Not That There's Anything Wrong With That
by JakeDanielRoss
Summary: Was he or wasn't he? She couldn't be sure if he batted for the other team or if her gaydar just had bugs on the screen, but either way she had it bad and that wasn't good.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Since I am within a chapter or two of wrapping my other two stories up, I thought I would throw this one out to see if anyone liked it. Let me know what you think. I have a couple of others on the back burner, but im tired of beating him up( or worse), so I thought I would go with the funny for a while. **

My mom is a hopeless case when it comes to dating. I mean, seriously, I have no idea how the hell she ever convinced my father to get with her to produce me, because the woman has no game. She is a bit of a dork when it comes to how she dresses, no, let me take that back, she is a total dork. She's always wearing black, (even in summer), she usually wears some ratty concert t-shirt from this weird band she likes that no one has ever heard of except for maybe a few equally dorky tween girls, she wears Cowboy boots! I mean, who in the hell has a middle aged mom in Portland who wears COWBOY boots? And her hair? Oh fuck me! Its nice and long and she could do stuff with it, but what does she do? She puts it in a pony tail and stuffs it up under a ball cap My boy Gerard had the idea when he said in the "Ugly Truth" that pony tails are for women who are operating heavy machinery or cleaning the cat box. We don't have a cat and moms days of operating heavy machinery are behind her, she's a manager of this weird little apartment complex we live in now. It's a nice place in what I discovered the first week of school to be the, "Gay" neighborhood. Half a dozen fights later, two calls to the principals office and a near media event, I am now doing a college based program from home. I don't take well to people trash talking the gays. Lost my cousin to Aids and it pisses me off, soo rather that listen to it, I decided to educate, with my fists.

Mom loves our complex. She knows everyone in it and we are all pretty tight. A few old people who have lived here forever keep me busy running errands for them to the store and hauling stuff to the recycle, but I don't mind because they pay either in cold hard cash or nice warm cookies. There are a few single women who live with other single women,(if you get my drift), and they mostly ignore me. There are quite a few guys in the same situation and they are pretty cool. I have made more than a few friends and in the summer when the pool is open, we hang out and talk sports, and in winter when the games are on, we gather in the rec room and raise hell cheering for Oregon during the Civil War. No one would dare be a Beavers fan, we would make him move. Our next door neighbors are the best, Eddie and Carlisle. They have been like a pair of surrogate fathers to me since we have been here, and I think I spend as much time with them as I do at home. Carlisle taught me the French that I use to charm the ladies, and Eddie taught me the guitar and piano as well as some wicked skateboard moves that got me some major play that the skate park. When I became a teen and weird shit started happening to me, instead of having to get the "Talk" from my mom, I got it from Carlisle an actual freaking doctor. It was still embarrassing, and he told me about EVERYTHING,(gay guys gotta be tough as hell), but it was not near as bad as it would have been coming from my MOM. Eddie taught me how to shave without tearing up my face and all about skin care and I gotta say, I had wished more than once that they would just make a straight version of them for my mom. I had even talked to them about it more than once, that my mom was lonely and she hadn't dated in years. The sexual frustration was bubbling out of the woman and it was enough to make me want to hide some days. I had even spent the night on their couch on more than one occasion when mom and I had battled over something crazy.

"You know, Emmett, maybe there is something we could do for her. I heard that Jane and Victoria are moving out next month?" Carlisle looked at Eddie and grin appeared on Eddies face. "I know what you are thinking and I think he would be perfect. He's been mopey and unbearable to be around for months, and I know he needs a place to live, so I will call him right up. You handle her, but lets keep it, 'Accidental".

Eddie picked up his cell phone and walked out of the room to make the call while Carlisle grinned at me. "We know someone who would be perfect for your mom, but the deal is, they both like to pretend that they don't want or need anyone. He's in need of a place to live, so we are going to have to make sure your mom doesn't rent that place to anyone else in the meantime. Can you make sure of that?" I nodded. "What's his name so I will be watching for him to show up. Carlisle kept that Cheshire cat grin as he said, "Jasper Whitlock, maybe you have heard of him?"

Oh holy shit! Not only had I heard of him, he was the lead singer of that weird little band I was telling you guys about earlier. My mom would freak the fuck out and then she would scare him off. "Carlisle, how the hell do you know him and I thought he was gay so it wont work." Carlisle looked at me and laughed out loud. " He's my nephew, he might swing both ways, I am not sure, but he's not gay, and why wont it work?"

"My mom KNOWS who he is. She loves his band. She has listened to them for years. Haven't you seen her in that ratty assed t-shirt she wears all the time? Or that goofy looking hoodie? Its embarrassing man, she's like a teenybopper or something when it comes to them.

"Well then she will know that the band broke up a few months ago. He's been in a rough place, moping around and not sure where he's going with his career or anything else. He's done a few acting gigs, but the rest of the guys formed a side band that really took off while he was working on his last film, so when he got back, they dumped him. He moved out here from L.A. and he's been couch surfing with friends and staying in hotels while he tries to decide what he wants to be when he grows up, but he needs a stable place to live. This would be a win/win. He needs to be close to some family and he needs someone in his life. I think you would like him too, he's a good guy, a little full of himself at times, but losing the band really took the wind out of his sails, so your mom might be just the thing to put it back in."

I could see this being potentially entertaining. Just being in the office when he walked in would be for sure worth seeing because mom would probably just about be killing herself or her computer trying to hide all the pics of him that she has on her computer,(she really was pretty pathetic with all the pictures of him on her phone, desktop and the files and files of stuff she had labeled as, 'Porn", I still held a bit of a grudge over that bunch of bullshit. I had gotten ahold of her computer when she went to lunch one day with the guys and I got my hopes all built up thinking it was something good, but NO! It was just page after page of pictures of him and his band. Yeah…this had some potential to be good.


	2. Chapter 2

A straight pecker desert. How come no one had warned me before I moved here all those years ago, that when I moved up to Portland to give my son a better life, I would be sacrificing any chance at ever having a sex life with a man ever again? I couldn't get laid if I fell out of a chickens ass. I never get any action, its as if I don't exist. Well, I take that back, I do get hit on and actually pretty frequently, by other women. I have tried changing my style, though I really don't see anything wrong with how I dress, but it didn't make a bit of difference. My friends tell me it is just the whole, 'Power and control" vibe I give off, but fucking hell, I am an ex cop and you would think that if I am giving off a, 'Power and control" vibe, I would get some guy looking for a Dom or something, but nope…not even the fetish boys give me the time of day.

Its been so long that I would probably need instructions as to what to do with a real live male anymore. Not to say that I don't have a pretty active fantasy life, but taking care of business myself is just not the same. I haven't been kissed by a grown man in over 10 YEARS! Do you have any idea what the hell that does to a woman? I have it on pretty decent authority that im not too scary to look at. I'm employed, educated, don't stink, and my social skills aren't too lacking. I don't smoke, drink to excess or do drugs and I even enjoy all kinds of things that guys typically enjoy, but I have not been able to meet a guy.

Actually, I have met men, lots and lots of gorgeous men. Cute, funny, well-dressed, well-groomed, employed, successful, wonderful smelling, absolutely charming, beautiful men that just make your heart skip a beat and then reach a dead stop when you meet their partner who is just like them. My next door neighbors are the perfect example of this. I love Carlisle and Ed. They were here when I moved in and they welcomed me and my then kindergarten age son with a home cooked meal after they spent the day helping me move in. They have helped me raise Emmett and have taught us both so much about living in Portland. I don't know how I would have managed to raise a son without them, especially handling the, "Talk", and all the boy ickyness that they did. We look out for each other and I consider them family.

They have tried to offer me suggestions over the years about how to get out and meet guys, and it works, to meet gay guys. I had been set up on a couple of blind dates by other friends, met the guys, had a nice dinner, and what I thought was nice conversation, and then maybe a second date, but in 10 years there had never been a third date. I was to the point that if I could just get a date, I would probably break my age old rule and jump the poor fool the minute he showed up for the first date.

My life isn't too terrible, I have a great kid who, even if he is a bit of a know it all smart ass who judges me for my musical tastes and all kinds of other things he has no right to criticize me over, especially considering he wears skinny jeans and listens to music where the lead singer sounds like a sick cat meowing. I actually got him to agree with me on that one when I meowed along with one of the more annoying songs after he harassed me about my musical passion once too often.

I am a fan of Jasper Whitlock. Yes, I said it. Judge away, I don't freaking care anymore. No, I am not some over-excited, hormonally challenged teen. No, I could care less about the movies he's been in, (though I have seen them), I REALLY like his music and I have for years. Even Emmett liked him before he became a know it all teenager and decided that everything his mom liked was automatically uncool. The fact that Jasper is easy on the eyes doesn't hurt things either. I've seen him and the band every single time they have performed in Portland and I've even met him a few times. Not only is he cute as hell, he's pretty damn nice to us pervy old women too.

I was broken hearted when the band dumped him. They had been together for so damn long and they had such great chemistry on stage, but I guess with him wanting to be an actor and needing so much time away from the band, the other boys were struggling to make ends meet when he wasn't around and they decided to see if they could succeed without him, and it turned out that they could. It didn't mean I had to like it. What really stunk was that he had pretty much just vanished off the face of the earth after they dropped him. So what am I doing on yet another rainy Portland Saturday when I am supposed to be working on quarterly reports and writing an ad for the one empty apartment I have, why I am of course sitting here on my butt trolling the net looking for any of the latest news about him to see if he has popped up anywhere, licking his wounds and ready to get back at it, but of course there is nothing. Its sad really. He was the one little bit of male sunshine in my otherwise peckerless existence.

My rotten son liked to tease me that Jasper was gay as well and that my gaydar was just hopelessly broken, but I really couldn't tell and it wasn't like it really mattered to me. He was much younger, much out of my league and I had about as much chance for him to walk into my life wanting a middle aged single mom with a smartassed teen son as I stood of winning the lottery, and considering I don't buy lottery tickets, I would say that the odds were pretty much in his favor for remaining safe from my lecherous intentions.

My son has been acting so damn weird lately. I guess he's trying to behave himself because Christmas is rapidly approaching, but he's been extra helpful around the office lately and he even turned the apartment that came open with a minimum of whining, usually I have to just about beg to get him to do anything around the complex for me. He will help anyone else out, but when I need something? Its just easier to either bribe him or do it myself, but these past couple of weeks he's been great. Even Ed and Carlisle have been around more, except for today, for some reason they are with Emmett at my house watching some game or another while I keep my office hours today.

Its boring sitting here on rainy days in the middle of the month. Even though I actually have an apartment open for the first time in forever, I am hesitant about who I am going to let move into it, because for one, it's a really nice apartment and I am really picky about who moves into my complex. They have to meet all the requirements and have a squeaky clean history, and if they even remotely act like they would give any of my residents a hard time, then they don't get in, and the other reason I am really particular who moves in, is because they are going to be my neighbor on the other side and I have gotten really spoiled by having Ed and Carlisle on one side, where I never hear them and they are my friends and don't cook anything too obnoxious or smoke in the apartment and they don't get too excited when my kid practices his guitar a little too loud, unless he misses a chord, then they flip him all kinds of shit about it either by coming over and correcting him right away, or calling and just making fun of him or by razzing him about it the next day. I don't want someone who is going to be bitching and griping if my son burps or if I am cooking with too much garlic again. I don't need some crackhead moving in and trying to set up their dealing operation in my little out of the way complex, because I am an excop and I would have to do something…unpleasant? To them to make them leave.

Its almost time to close up shop. Yet another day of no news is good news I guess. But of course, just as I say that, here comes someone pulling into the, "Future resident" parking space. I guess I shouldn't complain, if I get the place rented to a decent person, corporate will get off my butt about not being at full occupancy and I will be able to relax again. Judging by the car, (a newer Toyota), it was probably either a college kid who would run because of the steep rent and deposit, or maybe it was someone who was just lost. I wasn't going to get too excited, I was on the bands website scrolling through an interesting chat stream about how Jasper had been spotted in Portland a couple of weeks ago, looking like he had cancer of the puppy and drinking too much. That was depressing, but what the hell would be doing in Portland? Nothing ever happens up here in the drippy Northwest. Nothing exciting at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jpov**

Why the hell am I here? Its cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, its rained so damn much that my boots have moss on them, and I have been hit on by guys on a pretty much daily basis. Hand to God, I just want to find some hole in the wall dive bar, get a job playing my music and just live a nice quiet life while I lick my wounds and deal with the shit hand I got dealt a while back.

Being dumped by my boys about killed me. We had been together since high school. We learned our instruments together, starved together and had done just about every damn thing you care to think about together, (we were a rock band you know), and then just because I got a little busy on a side job for a few months, they up and cut me? After we had finally made it? That fucking hurt like hell. If my mama hadn't called me up and cried on the phone to me about how worried she was about me drinking myself into a coma, then I would still be down at the Whiskey bar just mulling things over, but nooo, here I was at the complex where my uncle Carlisle lives with his partner, to look at some apartment so they could keep an eye on me. Mama said it was just to give me a , 'Base of operations" and a place to hang my hat, but I knew they were all pushing this place so my uncle could keep an eye on me and report back to my mom what I was up to.

I guess I better get my ass in gear, the rain aint gonna stop and my dear uncle said that the gal that ran this place was not only a real hoot to meet, but that she was really prompt about when she left the office, so I guess I will stop dicking around and get my ass in the office before she skates out the door and leaves me sitting here looking like a jackass. I sure as hell hope this gal aint too jumpy with some guy walking into the office wearing the local Unibomber hoodie with ball cap uniform, but I was cold and still trying to avoid the few papparazi stalkers who thought it was funny to catch pictures of the fallen stars in their misery and then make fun of us in various online venues. I didn't need anymore of that shit than I had already dealt with, especially since the last one had gotten the whole, "Gay" rumor started and I still hadn't managed to shake that one. Try getting play when the whole world knows that not only have you been kicked to the curb by your own band, but that you are also supposedly gay. Times had been pretty damn bad lately. Maybe mama was right, I did need a place to just relax and contemplate the universe and my place in it.

Well, I guess Ill go see this place and find out how much of a dump it is.


	4. Chapter 4

I swear to God if these guys don't settle down she is going to hear them and we are all going to get killed. If she were to realize that part of the reason I had been in the office this past week was to install a remote camera so we watch when Jasper showed up in the office, she would kill us all and nail our hides to the wall for decoration. Those two dumb asses keep giggling and laughing at her trolling the net and talking to herself, as if it were something unusual. Hell! I see that shit all the time in my living room when she is writing or talking to some of her weird assed friends from online. At least she's not picking her nose or anything like that. One fairly mild butt scratch, and yeah…when she leans forward you can see her butt crack again. Dammit MOM! I soo wish she would eat more often and grow a normal mom ass, but she is soo damn skinny that she wears jeans smaller than what I wear, so she is almost constantly mooning someone.

"Oh duudes! Here he comes! Get ready!" Ouch, you damn moose! Get the hell off of me and sit on your boyfriend! There is plenty of room for us to see. Be quiet and I will turn up the sound. Any bets on how long it takes her to recognize him? Eddie, I see your 3 minutes and I raise you instantly, what about you Carlisle are you in? 5 minutes? You are crazy! She LUSTS after him on a daily basis, has for YEARS, but I will be happy to take your money. Minimum bet is 20, so no crying when you guys are paying for my new bearings for my Sector 9. Ed are you sure you want to bet against me? We could go in together against him and double the amount we take him for and then buy new trucks for the long board? Okay, he's almost to the door, set the timer on the Iphone! Ready…set…Now!

HAHAHA! OH MY GOD! That was EPIC! Dudes, pay up. I would think that qualifies as instant recognition. She fell out of her damn chair and then almost killed her computer trying to get all the open files of his pictures shut down before she would say hello to him. Poor dude is standing there looking at her like she is the crazy cat lady from the Simpson's and she is flailing and such an interesting shade of red. I almost feel bad for her, but I know this is good for her. Carlisle has told me that the dude is going to rent the place no matter what because he's in trouble with his mom and has to, so its pretty much impossible for mom to fuck this up. She is freaking out so badly she doesn't know if she's renting apartments or flying.

"Shhh! Listen! Listen! I want to hear what they are saying, so will you guys be quiet!" I swear to God they are terrible! Oh mom…the poor guy is looking at her like she has lost her mind as she sputters and stutters and knocks stuff off her desk over and over. NO! Mom! NO! Do not bend over and pick it up! Annnd she mooned him.

Glaring at those to chuckleheads is doing no good. They are laughing so hard they are crying and I am having to fight it pretty hard myself. Mom has destroyed her desk, nearly taken out her computer, mooned the guy and now she is feeling him up as she tries to dry him off because she has spilled her coffee on him?

He is just standing there looking at her like she is the representative from the Island of Misfit Toys.

**Jpov**

What in the name of Gods green earth is wrong with this woman? I walk into the office and she looks like she swallowed a cat, backwards. Im afraid she's going to have a damn heart attack if she doesn't settle down pretty quick or I will get injured. Thank God that coffee wasn't too hot, but if she doesn't quit patting at my pants im going to have another problem. Im trying really hard not to laugh as she moons me again, reaching to pick up her pen, again. Its not funny anymore when she bangs her head against the edge of the desk hard enough to split her scalp and knock herself out though.

"Oh shit!" What the hell do I do with an armful of bleeding woman? This would be the icing on the cake if the paparazzi got a shot of this, I can see it now, "Disgraced rock star Jasper Whitlock assaults woman in drunken rage." Or some bullshit like that. I better get my damn phone out and call my uncle to see if he can help. Better yet, here he comes! Thank fucking God!

**EPOV**

Oh Shit! That wasn't funny at all. We heard the thunk as moms skull connected with the edge of the desk hard enough to knock her computer monitor over. Dude at least caught her before she face planted back into the floor and he is looking like he is about to have a damn heart attack as Carlisle and Eddie go running out the door towards the office. I am still so stunned at the turn of events I am not quite sure what to do other than make sure the camera link is hidden, grab a couple of dish towels and run out after them.

Mom is already starting to come around as I make it through the door, and Eddie and Carslile are already holding an icepack to her head. "Emmett, why don't you show this gentleman the apartment while we take care of your mom, okay? She will be okay, shes just a bit stunned for the moment." Carlisle has this weird mellow vibe that has everyone acting like they have been hitting up the weed or something and the next thing I know Ive got the dude following after me as I lead the way into the empty apartment.

"Uh, I am sorry your mom got hurt, but how did you know so quickly?" The dude was pretty sharp, so I had to answer carefully so he didn't dime us off to my mom and get us all killed. "We had security cameras installed last week as a surprise for my mom. She doesn't know about them yet, in fact we were just testing them out on you. Please don't tell her? It's a surprise for her birthday." I tried to look all innocent and shit, even smiling and giving him the full effect of the baby blues and the dimples in case he was a switch hitter like Carlisle said might be possible, but considering I was half again his size, I think I just intimidated him a little because he stopped and shrugged and said, "Yeah, sure dude, whatever."

**Jpov**

Is this jailbait lil fucker flirting with me? Though when I say, "lil" I am being facetious, because the kid is a freaking moose! How in the hell did a runt like that woman spawn the monster leading me into the empty apartment and hopefully not to my doom? What the hell is wrong with this apartment complex? The manager is a hot mess, and now her kid is working me? I am going to kick Carlislse ass for telling my mom he would look after me. I don't need looking after, I am a grown assed man! Hell, I might need looking after if I moved in here with this crew, the thing is though, the apartment is nice,clean and kinda funky cool, and the kid tells me that it's a pretty chilled place to be, and I wouldn't even have to worry about getting separate utilities set up since everything is included. Fuck. I don't have any furniture or anything, and I wasn't intending on buying any, so maybe if I moved here, I could hit up my dear old uncle for some goods until I found a few things I wanted, and I guess if nothing else I could count on being entertained by the locals. I tell the kid ill take it and when he grins like he just fucked the neighbors cat, I know that I may be in trouble.

**EmPov**

Wow, he is a runty lil fucker, and not the most talkative of guys. He keeps looking at me funny like hes afraid im gonna do something to him or something. I thought Carslile said he was a Texan? Moms a Texan and though she might get flustered around guys she likes, the woman is scared of nothing. She once chased a crackhead across the complex commons, tackled him and was putting the smack down on him for trying to rob some old lady who didn't even live here. The cops about had a heart attack when they saw that some little 5 ft nothing, old chick was doing their job without a Tazer, but once they found out she was a Texan they all just nodded and were like, "We wont worry about this area anymore." Little dude better tough up if he's gonna hang with my mom, she will show him who's the boss and have him wearing an apron and shit in no time if he shows any weakness, but hey! I've done my time, and now its someone else's turn to occupy her time and energies, unless he IS gay, but it is just so damn hard to tell anymore, and them actor types don't track true anyhow. I've seen some of his movies,(I DO have a few gay best friends who happen to like him an awful lot), so I got them inflicted on me more than once, and I know he's worn a dress or two, and then there was that cop show he did…that damn show led to a long conversation with Eddie that he has sworn never to share with anyone else, including Carlisle, but lets leave it to say that the lil dude has confused his fair share of young men by how pretty he is in a dress.

**Jpov**

Why the hell is he staring at me again? I swear to God the kid looks like he wants to eat me, and the size he is? I wouldn't make much of an appetizer to him. "Uh, hey! Don't we have to do some paperwork or some shit so I can rent this place?" That got his attention and he nodded and led me back to the office where mom was finally sitting back in her chair with a band aid on her head. She still looked like she was going to fall out of her chair when I walked in, but she managed to keep it together enough to not destroy her desk again.

"So, uh, yeah…I guess I would like to rent the apartment. What do you need from me?" I was trying to keep my voice calm and quiet so she wouldn't get all excited again and I guess it worked as she started printing out a bunch of forms for me to fill out. She ran my background and found out pretty quick I wasn't a serial killer, and that I had the cash to afford the place, so after she got done having me sign my name about a million times on a lease and agreeing to everything from not smoking in the apartment to recycling, I became the newest resident of apartment number 3 and as she handed me my keys, apparently her next door neighbor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bpov**

I have died and this is some weird fantasy dream sequence or something…right? There is no way that is Jasper Whitlock walking into my office. Oh fuck! It is! Omg!Omg!Omg! Must close tabs, must hide my background! Oh shit! No! That's WORSE! Oh Dear Sweet baby Jesus! Akk! Brain is entering critical overload warning. Oh My God…That cologne that he is wearing….Oh, there's that damn pencil! Ouch!

"What the hell happened? Why are you guys here? Why does my head hurt?" Carlisle is looking at me like he is up to something. Did I say something inappropriate about him or Eddie? I always worry that I was going to slip and give hint that I would hit that like the angry fist of God, but I have always managed to behave myself around them because I know there was no chance.

"Bella, hun, what's the last thing you remember?" Carlisle was dabbing at my head with a damp cloth as Eddie was busily putting my desk back together. " I think I must have dozed off because I had the weirdest dream that this singer I like walked in to rent an apartment here. I guess I fell out of my chair and hit my head or something." Eddie snorted as Carlisle put the ice pack back to my head. 'Well, the fella who Emmett is touring around the apartment must have made a hell of an impression on you because he caught you just as we were coming to ask if you wanted to go to pizza with us. He was pretty freaked out, but he still wanted to see the apartment so we sent Em to show him the place while we got you back to rights. When is the last time you ate anything? Maybe you fainted from hunger?"

"No! I did not faint from hunger! Oh my God! Jasper Whitlock is in my apartment complex!" Oh good Lord I'm feeling whoozy again and why are Carlisle and Eddie laughing at me?

"Bella, are you fangirling? Aren't you a little old for that kind of stuff?" Ed could be snarky as hell sometimes. I flipped him off as Carlisle put a band aid on my head. "Bella, just remember, he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else and is no better than anyone else, in fact, in some ways he might be a little worse, so don't get all stressed out over someone just because they might sing or something like that, just be yourself and you will be fine." With those little words of wisdom, he gathered up his medical stuff and headed out the door, "We will be back to pick you guys up in about a half hour. We are going for Pizza and you are going to actually eat something this time." I waved at him with a couple of fingers as he and Ed left me sitting in my office trying not to have a heart attack. What the hell was taking Em so long? Was he giving him a tour of the entire damn complex? I needed to gather up all the proper paperwork but my damn hands would not stop shaking. If I survived to get through this, then I was going to start drinking.

Oh damn, here they come. Why is Em looking at him like that? Weird. He doesn't come in with him for some reason, just tells him he will see him around and then he takes off towards home like his ass is on fire. Of all the times to not come in, this was the perfect one. He would have teased me or embarrassed me somehow. I know my son, he lives to tease me lately, and he would have used this as a golden opportunity, and I would have had to kill him. He swore he still owed me payback for his getting groped by a large, drunk woman at the last concert I had drug him to. It wasn't like I had groped him, and if I knew who had done it, I would have put a smack down on the heifer for touching my underage son, but he didn't bother to tell me until well after we had left the venue.

Oh good Lord, here he comes. I will not spazz out. I will not spazz out. Must maintain my cool. Alll business. Uh huh…

I cannot believe I survived that. I cannot believe he signed a year lease to be my neighbor. Oh my God! Jasper Whitlock is going to be my neighbor? Why is he going to be MY neighbor? Why is he looking in THIS neighborhood for a place to live? Oh my God, is Emmett right? Is he gay? He is such a small and pretty looking thing, it wont take him anytime at all to get snapped up by some nice young man that will treat him well and appreciate him. That would be just the dressing on my shit sandwich of a social life, the most gorgeous man that I have lusted after for years finally appears in my life and my son has a better shot at him than I do. It would make sense though, the way him and a couple of the guys in the band had interacted had led to rumors of more than just guitars being shared, and he had lived with one of them for quite a long time. Was the end of a relationship the real reason he was ousted from the band? The poor boy. No wonder he looked so sad and beat down. He needed some time to get over not only the loss of his band, but obviously a broken heart as well. That just makes me all kinds of sad for him. Well, he will find a soft place to fall here. We look after our own and he will be looked after.

He's already moving in? I see him carrying his guitar case to the door and fumbling with the lock in the dark. I can hear him muttering and cussing as he starts dropping things into the muck around the entry way so as I finish locking the office, I hurry over and using my phone, I illuminate the lock so he can see to get the key in. I bend down to help him pick up the things he had dropped, and I swear to God I don't know how it happened, I know the mud makes my boots slick, but somehow I managed to slip on the edge of the step and run my skull directly into his groin.

**Jpov**

Dying. I am dying. Cant breathe. Don't wanna breathe. Afraid I will need to cough and one of my pecans will shoot out of my throat onto the ground. I hear her talking to me, I can feel all the mud and shit soaking into the one last clean pair of jeans I had left, as I am on my knees on my own front porch on my knees trying not to puke my guts out onto the Welcome mat, but I could give a fuck as to what she is saying, the woman just tried to kill me. Yeah, she may have been trying to help, but Lord have mercy she was a jinx! Which was precisely the first word I managed to say just as her moose of a son came trotting up and picked me up like I was damned rag doll. "Mom, get his shit up outta the mud, Ill get him inside, this is guy stuff. He doesn't need anymore of your help at the moment, just set his stuff inside and go get him some Tylenol and a towel and an icepack, will you? Oh and by the way, we are ready to go whenever you get done maiming the new guy."

Moose carried me into my apartment like I was a chick. Could this fucking day get any worse? "Dude, I am going to overlook the fact you were just about to hurt my moms feelings because she probably head butted your nards through the top of your skull, and I know that shit hurts, but if you hurt my mom, I will wreck you, okay? She really, really likes you and has supported your ass for years, so don't be a dick to her. Be a dick to everyone else, that's cool, especially be a dick to your uncle Carlisle and Eddie, they are my buds and can take it, but not to her, she means well, she's just a train wreck and tends to spread the accidental pain pretty wide, but she is my train wreck and if you hurt her feelings? Well, I have permission from your Uncle to hurt a lot more than your feelings., 'kay?" he smiled so brightly that he might have been telling me that I was the love of his life and we were going on a long vacation, instead of threatening to rearrange my face if I made his mom cry. I did what any small man in my situation would do, I smiled and nodded from my fetal position as his mom came running back in with the towel and ice pack and Tylenol as well as a six pack of coke.

She fussed all around me like a flustered mother hen. Her son kept trying to shoo her away, but she kept apologizing and it looked like she was going to cry any minute so I finally regained enough of my voice to say, "Its okay darlin, (that twang always worked),Ill live, even if I don't want to." She gave me a bit of a look when I broke out the twang, but she stopped apologizing.

"Are you staying here tonight? What are you going to sleep on? Do you not have a sleeping bag or anything?" I was intending to stay in my apartment. I wanted to explore it and just have a night without any hanger ons to bother me and I intended to just drink the fifth of whiskey I had in my car and pass out, but not having the basics was something I had not given any thought to.

I saw the mom in her emerge right away, even from my position on the floor I saw the moose shrink as she got in his face and barked orders at him for his best sleeping bag, a pillow with a CLEAN case, another clean towel, some soap, toilet paper, and enough stuff to keep me from having to leave for a week, (I had lived out of a suitcase for years, I needed very little), but if she wanted to make up for maiming me and costing the world future Whitlock jr's , then I was going to let her. She asked me if there was anything else in my car I needed and other than to lock it up, everything I owned was already inside in a slightly muddy pile in my living room floor. She gingerly picked up my duffle bag and cringed as mud dripped off of it. "Those would be my clothes. Its okay, most of them were dirty anyway." She grimaced and asked, "Anything in here other than dirty clothes?" I sat up and shook my head at her, "Nah, I had just been stuffing them in there for the past week or two until I could get to a Laundromat." She whipped out her cell phone and called up moose who was still mia and said, 'Go to Carlisle and borrow a pair of Eds sweats and a t-shirt or two. Don't argue with me, young man and tell them I will be there when I get there and if they are in a hurry then you guys can go ahead and go without me. What kind of pizza do you like?" I was too stunned to think before I said, 'Sausage'. She said, "Okay, here is the situation, Em is bringing you some things to help you settle in for tonight, including some clean and dry clothes. Give him the ones I caused to get all wet and muddy, they will be added to the rest of the ones I got all wet and muddy and they will be washed, dried folded and returned to you tomorrow along with a clean duffle. The only other time we will bother you tonight is when we return in about an hour or so with a sausage pizza for you. This is the least I can do to make up for maiming you, its also our complex's tradition for all new residents. We take care of our own, so please let us do this."

Hell, I wasn't going to argue with her. I was sore, tired and I was pretty hungry and thanks to Danger Mouse and Moose, I was out of clean, dry, clothes so unless I wanted to go out to a Laundromat looking like a dumpster bum, I could accept the offer. "Thank you very much, Ms. Black. I really appreciate you helping me out."

Moose or Emmett as I was told he was named, arrived back in my apartment, arms weighed down with all the gear his mom had ordered and more, including a box of Twinkies to go with the Cokes and some chips and a fold out cot that he had wrangled up from some where. "Go change out of your wet clothes, man before she helps you even more than you need." He tossed me the sweats as he set up the cot and the sleeping bag for me in the bedroom. She milled around in the living room, and then getting a call on her cell phone, I heard her step out onto the porch, "Yes, we are almost done. Just hang on to your peckers a few more minutes and we will be right there. You know I cant leave this boy in a lurch like this, he is somebody's child, no matter who he thinks he is otherwise and he looks like he's be over 10 miles of hard road. I know Carlisle, I know. I will be fine. don't worry about me. I will be fine, now get that car warming up, we will be there in about 5 minutes, and don't you two steam up the windows!"

I had to laugh, she seemed to crack the whip over everyone around here, including my uncle, so as long as it was equally distributed, who the hell was I to argue? I brought my wet clothes out and stuffed them in the duffle as she came back into the living room. Eds sweats were a little big on me, but I wasn't planning on going too many places over the next few days, so it wasn't like I needed high fashion. I didn't bother with the t-shirt, there was no way I was putting on a t-shirt that said, "Spank your monkey" with a monkey with a whip on it. I don't know what the hell Ed and Carlisle were into, didn't want to know, but I was in my house so shirtless was fine with me, and it would have to be fine with everyone else. I was sure she had seen tattoos before.

"Whoa dude! Nice ink!" Leave it to Moose to draw attention to things. He came over and was giving me the once over like I was his personal comic book stand as his mom just stared at me. I was glad I had laid off the beer for the last movie role and lost the little bit of a pudge I had managed to get when we had last toured because she was eyeballing me pretty damn hard. "How many tatts do you have?" I could see the kid counting the ones all over my arms and chest and slowly making his way around to my back as I told him, "11" . He had stopped counting at 9. "So you have tattoos on your legs? Can I see them? I have been thinking about getting one on my calf but mom wont consent to it until im 18." I inwardly smirked, they weren't on my calves, the two that weren't visible weren't in anyplace he was going to be seeing anytime soon being that he was jailbait of the worst kind. 'Uh, no, they aren't on my legs. Sorry dude, you cant see them." "Oh, OH!" Moose blushed pretty furiously at me and then grumbled, I should have known with the nipple piercing that you were into some of the weirder stuff. "Uh, not too much dude, but they are very private and you wouldn't get them anyway. "OKAY! Time to go Emmett, leave the man alone and lets go get him some food. Mr. Whitlock, one of us will be back around in about an hour with your pizza, if you need anything, the number on your contract is the complex cell phone and I will have it with me. Lets GO, Em."

The mom was pretty flushed and I had no idea why. I checked to make sure nothing was hanging out, and though the sweats were a little clingy, they weren't too low or anything and I am sure she had seen a mans chest before. But, oh well, who the hell knew? Maybe she was getting a headache from smacking her noggin? "Okay, Thanks ma'am. Ill see you in a bit." She took off out the door like her ass was on fire as I walked towards them, Em looking at her like she had lost her mind. He shrugged a me and ambled out, "Later, man."

Finally! Some fucking peace and quiet. Looking around at the place its not too bad. I don't know if I can stand to spend a year here, but some time wont be too bad, especially with the free entertainment. Now, where the hell did that kid put the Twinkies?


	6. Chapter 6

**Empov**

Mom looks like she is about to explode, implode or just run squeeing into the night, either way, something is up with her. She tossed his duffle into the front entry of our apartment and then we went and got in Carlisle car. "Mom? Mom? Are you going to say anything? Are you breathing?"

"Oh she's breathing all right, the panting she's doing is going to fog up the windows if she doesn't slow it the hell down in a minute." Eddie was the master of the burn and we fist bumped as Carlisle smacked him in the arm. "You two be nice to her, she has been through quite an evening. Bella, how is your head? Are you feeling okay?"

**Bpov**

I nodded at Carlisle but I didn't want to talk at the moment.

I'm fine. I am just processing everything and I really don't know what kind of great karmic joke is being played on me. I think maybe I am asleep and when I wake up it will be just a weird dream. I got to see the man of my dreams, and oh yes, my rather vivid fantasies, up close and personal, without a shirt on and in a pair of sweat pants that left absolutely nothing to the imagination,(I was going to be hugging Ed for that in just a little bit), but instead of making me deliriously happy and more than a little horny, it broke my heart because it confirmed what I was afraid of, he had to be gay. He has all the signs, from the left nipple piercing and what I know had to be a piercing in his pecker, to the star tattoo in the dead center of his back. I had done my homework, years and years of living in Portland and getting my hopes up, only to have them dashed when I met the equally hot boyfriend, I had interrogated Carlisle so that I could learn to subtle and not so subtle hints that gay men used to spot one another. One of the first things he had taught me was about the tattoos. The stars and birds and anchors, arm bands, as well as the really clear ones like rainbows and things like that, had saved me plenty of time and energy when I had wondered if a fella piercing were also supposed to be a dead giveaway according to Carlisle, but only for certain types of gay fellas. It was a confusing world to try and navigate, but rather than be humiliated time and time again I had simply looked for the billboards and acted accordingly. Jasper was a walking billboard that might as well be lit up by spotlights. Piercing, a left arm band,(really?interesting...) and a huge star tattoo in the place where Carlisle had told me that fellas who, 'Bottomed" often were marked, much like girls got tramp stamps for decoration, though the arm band in plain sight seemed to indicate he was a, "Top". I was soo confused and would have to question Carlisle about it later when my son wasn't around to learn waay more than he ever needed to know about the social lives of gay men and his moms curiosity, but I knew enough to know that he was gay and yet another example of how all the good ones were either married, or gay or both.

'There's nothing wrong, you were right guys, I'm hungry and thirsty, in fact, I think I am going to have a beer or three tonight." I hadn't had a drink in a few years, and if ever there was an excuse to drown my sorrows, I think I had just encountered it.

**Edpov **

"Good lord! Woman! Would you please get off of me? Damn! Carlisle, are you sure you want to sic her on your nephew? She is drunk as a skunk and she's liable to do something very wrong to him." She was grinning up at me, leaned over in the seat of the car clutching the pizza box with Jaspers pizza like it was the last bit of flotsam in the ocean of despair or something. Carlisle and Emmett had piled into the front seat of the car, leaving me to sit in the back with her after she hugged me and thanked me for showing her "Jaspers pecker piercing", or some craziness like that. I had no idea what the heck she was talking about, but she while she was hugging me and leaned up against me, those two cowards laughed and claimed the front seat and now I was worried I was going to get felt up by one of my best friends while she was less than capable of resisting her baser urges, after all…who wouldn't want to get with this?

"Ed, we will be home in just a few minutes, I am sure you will be fine until then. Bella, honey, are you sure you are okay to take the pizza to Jasper? You seem a bit…tipsy." "Oh great Carlisle , like she is going to be able to tell you how drunk she is. The woman has a small lean and keeps grinning like she either has or is about to, fuck the neighbors cat. I have a feeling that cat may be your nephew. Sorry about that Em, I'm just calling it as it see it."

Em shuddered and stuck his fingers in his ears and started saying, "LALALALA" as if he were trying to block out everything. 'Dude, she got really weird around him before we left to come with for dinner, I am telling you, something is up. I don't know if he pissed her off or what, but she went really cool, really fast and then scooted out of his place like her ass was on fire, I don't know what the deal was , but someone should probably go with her" Em was not fond of the idea they had for them to put the pizza in her hands and shove her in Jaspers direction. They were of the opinion that both needed to get laid, and badly, so if they got all that out of the way in the first place, then things would work out in the end.

"Uh Carlisle, I think she is out. That or she is trying to take our relationship to the next level!" She had suddenly face planted into my lap, just missing the package, and I think she was killing the pizza. I tried to lift her up, but she was like boneless chicken. Em was absolutely no help at all. He flipped the visor down and was looking in the mirror at me and laughing as Carlisle just sped up a little and finally pulled into our parking space at home.

**Jpov**

What the hell is going on out there? I hear laughter and car doors slamming, so I am hoping that my pizza dinner is on the way to me. I open the door and look out just in time to see my uncle putting Danger Mouse over his shoulder in a dead mans carry while Moose trotted towards me with a pizza box. He thrust it into my hands and said, 'Here you go, dude, sorry it took so long, we have a bit of a situation." I took the pizza and set it in on the counter and followed after him, this should be good.

"Hey Unc, what's up with Danger Mouse? Is she okay?" I just followed them into her apartment, after all, it wasn't like I had anything else exciting going on at my place, and I am a nosy fucker. Moose looked at me, 'What did you call her?' oh shit…"Uh, dude, I was just being funny, I don't mean it to be mean." He grinned at me, 'No, don't worry, I seriously want to know, what did you call her?" Oh fuck, at least there is a doctor present, " I called her Danger Mouse because she's kinda small and she's a bit dangerous. Like I said, I was just being funny." The kid died laughing. 'Oh dude, I am soo stealing that! She will fucking KILL you if she ever finds out you were the one who came up with it, but you just gave her the first nickname she has had in years. Thank you man, thank you! This will totally pay her back for calling me Werewolf Boy after my body hair came in." He slapped my shoulder with one giant paw and I swear my parents probably felt it in Texas. I NEVER wanted to be on his bad side.

'So what's wrong with her?" She was sprawled out on her couch, a blissed out smile on her face, my unc was pulling her boots off and trying to sit her up so he could pull her jacket off. "She had a couple beers, muttered something about your pecker piercing and passed out in my lap." Eddie always was the blunt one. How in the hell did she know about my piercing? She hadn't seen the goods. Everyone was staring at my junk so I self consciously covered it up with my hands and turned away from them. " Jasper! What in the name of Gods green earth is that on your back and on your arm?I looked over my shoulder at my back as Eddie and my unc and Em all crowded around me looking at my latest tattoo. "Oh son, what the hell have you done?" Eddie started laughing and took out his phone and snapped a picture. "Hey fucker! Don't be doing that!" He bolted across the room and got on the other side of the breakfast bar, out of my reach and I just knew he was sending that damn pictures somewhere I didn't want it going. "Who are you sending that to! Where are you sending it?" He was having a hard time trying to text and stay away from me and laugh all at the same time as he worked on sending the pic he had snapped. "Oh, im just sending it to my Facebook page and your mom. I am sure you will be getting a phone call in just a bit when she wants to know why you didn't tell her in person you were coming out."

Coming out? What the fuck? I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. Emmet was staring at all of us like we were a few bricks shy of a load as he picked up after his mom, hanging up her jacket and setting her boots by the door. "What are you guys harassing him about , I think that star looks really tight and that arm band is tough looking." Eddie really lost it then, the fucker was literally rolling on the floor. 'Is it Jasper? Is it tight?"

"Oh Jasper, why on earth did you get that tattoo there? What the hell were you thinking?" Uncle Carlisle is looking at me like I am the not quite bright dog that piddled on the rug. A cold feeling of dread is beginning to build in my gut as I watch Eddie laugh until he is crying, holding onto Emmett's leg to get up , he looks at me and says, "What really kills me is that we were the last to know!" and the fucker is rolling on the floor again.

"Unc, would you please tell me what the hell is wrong with your boyfriend other than the obvious? He is really starting to piss me off."

Carlisle is sitting next to Danger on the couch, he's got her head in his lap and he's stroking her hair back out of her face. She is out like a light, even with the laughing hyena rolling around her floor. Her son is no help either, he is almost as bad as the hyena, sitting there shaking his head and laughing as Eddie whispers in his ear. "Ohh DUDE! No wonder my mom looked like she had cancer of the puppy when you came out with your shirt off. She thinks you bat for the other team now." What the hell was he talking about? My tattoo was of the Texas star to honor my pride at being a Texan. "I'm confused, what does my Texas star have to do with anything?"

**Cpov**

I swear, this younger generation does not have a damn brain cell to split between them. Did he not do any research before he got the tattoo? You would think that someone who wants to be an actor and who is out in the world meeting lots of people, would take a little bit of time and do some research on the meaning of what they were having permanently carved into their bodies. Sis is gonna flip her lid when she gets that photo. She about had a heart attack when he got the first one, and now that he's all tatted up like some leather boy inmate on work release, she is going to freak the hell out. Poor Bella too, she adores my knuckle-headed nephew for some reason and I think they would be good for each other, but this really puts a fly in the ointment. If she is convinced he's gay, she will cease to see him. I have seen her do it, she just shuts herself off from the guy and remains aloof and unreachable, Eddie and I are the rare exception. "Eddie, just show him yours, then we will explain."

**Jpov**

Oh shit! Oh Shit! Oh Shit! NOOO! He has the exact same style star on both of his shoulders. What the fuck? Why didn't someone tell me? Was that why the tattoo guy kept hitting on me? Son of a mother duck! No wonder dudes had been hitting on me so much lately. I think I am going to barf. "Dudes, I'm not gay. I swear to God. I am not gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I like chicks, A LOT."

"Uh Huh…suuuuure you do buddy boy. That's why you look soo hot in a dress and that why you and your lil band buddies were soo close. We know all about that stuff." Eddie grinned at me as he flexed and showed off his stars and the rest of his tattoos and OMG his piercing. I did not need to see that. My unc is a freak too apparently. Not only is his boy toy younger, he's all pierced and…oh. Oh. .Fuck me running. No wonder my life has just been so damn weird lately. Did my manager hate me? She was the one who said that the tats and the piercing would make me seem more, "Mature and edgier" and that they would help me get into less juvenile roles. She even helped pick them out, as well as the placement. Fuck. She did hate me. She had been hard to reach ever since I had gone to Europe with the band for that brief tour other than to guide me about the tatts and the piercing. She hadn't even been around to support me when the band dropped me. Oh God, I am soo screwed. My band cut me, my manager hates me, and now I am marked as a gay man?

**Empov**

Oh holy crap! He just hit the floor! What the fuck? This is the day that just will not end. Mom is asssed out on the couch with her two beer drunk on, pretty boy just passed out cold in the floor and smacked his head on the counter on the way down and is bleeding on the carpet. What the fuck? Maybe my mom is a jinx?


	7. Chapter 7

Urgh…why did I drink? I know I have no tolerance for alcohol anymore, and I know Im not supposed to mix any kind of alcohol with my migraine medications, and I obviously misjudged the amount of time between when I took the damn pill and the start of my drinking, that or the damn on tap beer at that pizza joint was a lot stronger that I was used to. I need to get my ass up but im afraid to lift my head up and uncover. I'm soo nice and warm and comfortable. Maybe I will just try stretching a little and see how bad that brings on the pain. …what the hell? Okay, that got me to crack an eye open. I am not alone in my bed. I KNOW I did not drink that much last night, and my son was with me along with Carlisle and Ed, sooo? What the hell? Oh no no no no no! What the hell? What the fuck? How the hell is he is my bed and where the hell are his pants? I know he had pants on when I last saw him, (oh…nice though, by the way, what a damn shame),Why does he have a bandage on his head? What the fuck happened? Thank God he seems to be out like a light, I am going to try and slip my butt the hell out of here and find out just what the hell is going on, from the three most likely culprits in all of this, my son and his best buddies.

I knew it! They look like they had some demented tween sleepover from hell. Carlisle is asleep on my couch, in his clothes which weirdly enough have blood on them, Ed and Em are on the floor with Em spooning a shirtless Ed who had very similar tattoos to Jasper,(again, damn shame). This is too good to pass up so I capture that with my Iphone for later blackmail usage and then I walk up and begin kicking the nearest butt cheeks and throwing things at Carlisle. 'Wake the hell up! What the hell happened out here? Why is there a naked man in my bed? Why is he injured? Who injured him? Did I injure him? Would somebody tell me what the hell is going on?"

Men start rolling around and whining right away as is their nature, "M o oom! Stop! Its too early to be so mean!" Em always was the biggest whiner in the morning. I walked into the kitchen and started making coffee, extra strong because I was pretty sure it was going to be needed by everyone in my general vicinity. 'Carlisle, I expected better from you! What the hell is going on? I could get fired! If he files charges against me for sexual assault or even kidnapping, I could even go to jail! I have no idea what happened, but there is a very naked, injured, gay man in my bed and I didn't put him there, so you 3 had something to do with it and we need to have an apology ready to go so we can hopefully stay out of the same prison cell.

"Bella, you aren't going to go to prison, or be in any trouble. Its okay. He passed out after he hit his head on the bar last night and since he had hit his head and was unconscious, I needed to be able to keep an eye on him, and since you were a bit inebriated and needed someone to keep an eye on you, we decided to just combine our efforts and keep you together. I had no idea he was naked, Eddie grinned at me from the floor, "That was my contribution!, as Em tackled him and they began rolling around and acting like a couple of cave men. I snapped another picture of them as Em got the better of Ed and put him in a headlock where he was making him smell his armpit.

"Children, Children! You are going to wake the injured, naked man in my bed, so would you please stop now! Where the hell are his pants, by the way?" They stopped wrestling for a minute and Eddie grinned, "I was trying to be helpful so since they got some blood on them, I threw them in the washer along with the rest of his stuff and started it, unfortunately , nothing has made it to the dryer yet." I'm going to kill him. I really am going to kill him. "Carlisle, I am going to kill your boyfriend. Did anyone think to go an lock up that poor mans place last night? Did he ever get any food? What the hell happened? How did he hit his head?"

**Cpov**

I gave a look to the two knuckleheads rolling around on the floor, and I started telling her my version of last nights events. " You had passed out in Eddies lap in the car so we were carrying you in and he came trotting over to get the pizza we brought him. He came in to help get you settled and he tripped over something and managed to smack his head on the bar. You know the rest. He's been awake a couple of times during the night, he knows I'm a doctor, he knew where he was and why, he was cool with it." Actually he wasn't really cool with the whole naked thing, but it was late, he was covered up and I promised him he could kick Eddies ass once he got to feeling better. I was still wanting to keep the fact he was my nephew, a secret from her. If they were going to either end up friends or more or whatever, I didn't want the fact that we were relatives to have any influence on it, either way she was my friend and would remain that way and he was my nephew no matter what. She was giving me a look as she brought me a cup of coffee, and I wasn't surprised when she said, 'You are up to something. I expect. I don't know what it is, but Im gonna tell you now, I care about that boy in there. If you fix him up with someone, they better be nice. Don't go playing mean tricks on him, he's been through a lot these last few months and probably is needing a soft place to fall, you guys should be looking after him, not playing tricks on him like putting him in bed with some old woman and probably scaring him half to death. Lord knows what would have happened to him if it had been anyone who didn't know how read them road signs you guys have. We are going to be nice to him, watch out for him, and if he wants, leave him alone, but most of all, we aren't going to be harassing or teasing him, ARE WE BOYS?" Oh hell, scary Bella was putting in an appearance. We didn't often see her, but when she did show up we all took notice. "Yes Bella, we will be nice to him, don't worry."

**Jpov**

She only thought she snuck out of here while I was sleeping. I was awake and playing possum. I know she checked out the goods, (naughty girl I heard that whispered, "Nice" followed by, "Damn shame") and it was all I could do to not blush like hell. Its nice laying here in this bed instead of some sleeping bag on an old cot, and I could easily go right back to sleep, but I am curious as hell as to what is going on out there in her living room.

I cant go too far. I cannot believe they left me totally without a damn thing to put on. Unless I want to just wrap up in the sheet or cover with one of her pillows, I am skin to wind. I am so gonna punch Eddie in the dick when I get a chance.

What the hell is she saying? Dammit! She does think Im gay. Fuck my life. She's a nice chick and not to bad to look at, and damn she is really giving unc and Eddie the what for in defense of me. Its kinda nice to have someone watching my back for once. Maybe I will just go with it for a bit. What could be the harm? Im gonna be nosy while Im in here trying to figure out how the hell I am going to get out without showing off the bits to everyone. She's got a wall of pictures of her kid and a few of what looks like her when she was a Cop? Oh crap! I guess that fella was her man. Wonder where he is? Oh… "Killed in Line of Duty", that sucks. So she's a widow raising that moose of a kid on her own? Damn, she must be one hardcore chick. Maybe I ought to go out and show her my gratitude right now. She seemed to enjoy the naked, and since its all boys anyhow…

**Empov**

So that's where those other tattoos are! Wicked! Oh My God the expression on moms face! I'm going to piss my pants from laughing. My clothes are going to hang off the dude, he would come closer to fitting hers, so I am going to grab a pair of her sweats. I don't think she will notice anything for a bit after that entrance.

**Cpov**

Was that really necessary? Is he trying to give her a heart attack? Walking into the living room, buck assed naked and asking for a cup of coffee? He is damn lucky she didn't drop the one in her hand and splash his pecker, though it would have served him right if she had. I am soo going to tell his mom about that little stunt, and I know a boy that will be in a bunch of trouble. I hold up my phone with his moms contact screen up and I pointed to it, he got the hint and at least went and stood behind a chair until Em got back with a pair of sweat pants I knew were Bella's by all the monkeys all over them, serves his rotten ass right, and I made sure that Ed got the hint to snap plenty of pictures of him in them for later use.

"How are you feeling Mr. Whitlock? Is your head okay?" Poor Bella, she blushed hard as she asked that last one and Em and Ed both muttered something under their breath and then choked back laughs. I swear to God those two are like Beavis and Butthead when they are around each other too long. Ed keeps me young and I love him to death, but around Em, he turns into an overgrown teenager and I want to smack him with a rolled up newspaper.

**Bpov**

He's naked in my living room! Does he know he's NAKED in my living room?Did he hit his head that hard? Oh my God. I'm trying not to stare, but its just…there and I have this habit that I really cant help, I am a crotch looker and when there is a pecker front row and center to be looked at? I'm looking. That had to have hurt when he got that done, its interesting, for sure, but ouch! Makes me wanna cross my legs just looking at it and that not normally the effect he has on me at all,(exact opposite to tell you the truth), but while his pecker is nice, that is just distracting as all get out. Great, now I'm going to be wondering about just what it would do and how it would feel and all kinds of things it wont do me a damn bit of good to wonder about. Dammit! Thanks a lot! Must distract myself… Where are my manners?

Oh I knew that was the wrong damn question to ask the minute I finished asking it. I am going to mix Rogaine in Em's body wash if he keeps on harassing me.

Oh nice, so Em has decided to pick on someone else for a minute by giving him MY sweats to wear? That boy is going to be the death of me, if not by a pillow pressed firmly over my face in the wee hours of some dark morning for something I did to annoy him, he will kill me through sheer stress and frustration.

**Jpov**

"Uh, thanks man. I needed something to wear so I didn't get you all worked up or anything." I knew that lil shit had brought me his moms sweats, I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night, and he might think he was funny and good at playing jokes on people, but I was the grandmaster of the practical joke and he would rue the day he tangled with me if he kept on trying to make me look like an asshole, and as for flipping his mom shit? Yeah, that wasn't going to work, moms are to be respected and loved, not harassed and picked on like that peckerwood of Carlisle's seemed to think was okay to encourage. Yeah, she might think she was going to be looking out for me, but I think someone needed to be looking out for her more than just a little and maybe I could figure out a quid pro quo kinda thing. So as moose got all flustered and blushed after he tossed me the pants, I smirked at him, and gave him a wink, just to let him know that it was on, on like Donkey Kong.

"So Ms. Black, In answer to your question, I am doing okay. I have a little bit of a headache, but no worse than I have woke up with before. I am wondering if I could trouble you for a bit of toast or something? I never got to eat any of that pizza last night and my stomach is convinced my throat has been cut."

**Bpov**

Oh good Lord. He asked me to make him toast? Im not going to make him toast. That poor boy doesn't have enough ass in his pants to keep my sweat pants up so I am going to make him a real breakfast.

"Mr. Whitlock is you will just make yourself to home, I will be more than happy to include you in our Sunday breakfast plans. Em and Ed were just going to wash their hands so they could come help me, and Carlisle was going to swap the laundry around. You are more than welcome to enjoy your coffee either on the couch in front of the tv or at the table while we cook, but we typically have a pretty decent Southern style breakfast. Are you a vegetarian or anything like that?"

Eddie interjected before he could even say anything, "Oh no Bella, remember, he really LIKES sausage."

Im going to kill them all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Jpov**

Watching them boys scatter like a pack of whipped curs as she gets down to the business of making breakfast is the funniest thing I have seen in days and days. She starts dragging out the makings for homemade biscuits and I about fall off the damn barstool I had just climbed up on. "Ms. Black, are you going to make homemade biscuits?" I swear, it was all I could do to not have drool fall out of my mouth as I asked that question and when she turned around and looked at me like I was a bit simple before she said, 'Well, yes, I was Mr. Whitlock I was going to. Is that okay? Are you allergic or on a special diet? I could still make you some toast if you would prefer that, but I make biscuits almost every Sunday to go with the gravy."

Oh fuck me…I did drool then. "Its Jasper, ma'am and I would love to have your biscuits." Emmett snorted as he walked back into the kitchen and she shook the rolling pin at him. "Where is Ed? He needs to be peeling potatoes while you are cooking the sausage." Emmett gave me a look over her head as he said, "Oh, Carlisle's sister got some bad news last night and he is trying to calm her down, apparently some problem child nephew got some boneheaded tattoo that really upset her and Eddie is trying to explain to her that she doesn't need to fly out to the nephews house and beat the hair off of him, because he will handle it for her and help the kid get it fixed so he doesn't spend the rest of his life looking like some douche. Carlisle got a call from the hospital he had to deal with an couldn't talk to her so Ed had to handle it"

"See? I told you! That is why I tell you that until you can design your own tattoo and explain to me why you want a tattoo and the meaning behind it, then I am not going to sign off on you getting one. All of mine are my design and all of them have deep meaning to me, so when you have enough money to pay for one on your own or enough sand to come to me with all the requirements met, then this is a good example of why you don't go just getting branded along with the rest of the sheeple." Ouch…okay, that stung a little, but she has tattoos? I thought I saw the edge of something peeking out from under her cuff, but the woman has been wearing long sleeves and long britches since I met her. Now, I just gotta know. "Ms Black, you have tattoos?"

Oh wow, that is a really interesting shade of red, and I can tell it goes all the way from somewhere under her shirt, up her face and around the back of her neck to her ears. Em was quite a bit of help to me at this point, "Yeah, mom, SHOW him your youngest tattoo, you know, the one on your wrist?"

She scowled at him and said, 'Emmett, why don't you go see what is holding Eddie and Carlisle?" That was an attempt at deflection if I ever saw one so that tattoo on her wrist must be a real doozy. "Oh I am sure they will be out here in a few, mom. C'mon, show him." He began easing towards her as she was distracted getting out the flour and the shortening. I was halfway debating joining in on the fun, but I had seen how dangerous she was when she wasn't provoked, and he was bigger than me, so I figured it would be more entertaining to watch and I would get to see the tattoo if he succeeded, without risking getting another injury to add to the roster.

**Empov**

I knew better. I really did, but she is just soo much fun to get riled up and now that I am soo much bigger than her, its easy to get ahold of her and get her pinned so she cant get away. I knew she had to be dying 10 kinds of deaths over her tattoo and trying to keep it hidden from him. It wasn't that embarrassing, but she would think it was because she always was embarrassed to admit about how much that lil dude and his band meant to her, but I know she had gone through a long sad time where she didn't do much more than work, raise me and not interact with anyone and then one day my crazy assed aunt sent her a link for a song that she thought was so crazy that it would be right up my moms alley and she was right. My mom thought that anyone weird enough to write a song about murder that was soo catchy that it got stuck in your head for days and she even found herself singing it to me as a baby song, they had to be worth finding more about, and so she had. She told me later that they had pretty much saved her from herself. She had remained loyal to them for years, buying all their records, seeing them in concert every time they were in town, including dragging me along each and every damn time, and she had spread the word about them every chance she got. It was kind of embarrassing to tell the truth, but I tried to leave her alone about it because she really didn't do much else that was too objectionable, I mean, after all, I knew guys who had moms who were at the bar all the time and who gambled or brought home a new, "Dad" every other month, she didn't even try to date anymore. When she sketched out that tattoo which was a stylized version of their logo, wearing a top hat and holding a match, I knew she had to get it done, and when she came home with it on her wrist, I was shocked, but kinda proud of her, it was her way of saying that she was finally comfortable being herself, at least until he came around and there was a chance the man who inspired her might actually see the damn thing. He needed to see it. He was going to see it, one way or the other, I just had to catch her just enough off guard that I could get the drop on her.

" Uh, mom? Do you want me to use the sausage patties or the links? Where did you put the big skillet. She got to her feet and came over beside me and I knew I had her, " Em, I want you to use the patties, it makes better gravy and the big skillet is where its always at, above the fridge in the cupboard." She opened the freezer door and before she knew what was going on, I had her in a bear hug.

"Emmett, if you don't let me go right now, you are going to force me to do something we will both regret."

**Bpov**

He is really going to make me hurt him isn't he? I don't want to, but I hate being manhandled, and he really has been working on pushing my buttons. I warn him, very calmly in my no nonsense, "You are about to really get into a world of hurt" kind of voice that makes Jasper look at me with his eyes wide, and the boy just laughs and begins carrying me around to where Jasper is. "Its on her right wrist, just pull up her sleeve and you can see it." Jasper looks as uncomfortable as any man can look, but I can also tell he is curious as hell as to what could be causing me to want to hide it. I would have showed it to him in my own time and explained it to him, but I didn't want it made fun of and I was tired of being teased. "Emmett, last chance. Put me the hell down, NOW!"

The little shit shook me and laughed. I saw Eddie and Carlisle coming back into the room and I hoped help was coming, but Ed grabbed Carlisle and said, "We better stay out of this, I have a feeling its about to get bloody." Fuck. That left me no choice. I hated to do it, but I had just enough movement that I was able to head butt him in the nose and he dropped me to my feet and from there it was Solar plexus, instep, nose,(again), and a little tap to the groin just to make sure he was good and done. When you have a kid that is a foot taller than you and outweighs you by almost 100lbs, you don't take chances.

"Ohh dammmn, Bella! You went SING On his ass! Ed walked over and drug Em out of the kitchen by his belt loops as Jasper sat there with jaw hanging down. Em groaned from the floor, 'Dirty pool mom, you got my nose twice this time!

**Jpov**

I'm not a freak or anything, but that was fucking hot. The woman is bad assed as all get out and she dropped her son like he was a dirty sock. I gave up trying not to laugh and just died. She stepped over him and commented, "You shouldn't have let me get that first shot in, I showed you how to block that the last time. When you learn to not let your guard down like some rookie, then you will be able to tangle with your old mom. Jasper, would you be a dear and help me with the sausage?" Oh good lord, I was afraid not to help her. Eddie had meekly wandered over to the sink and was washing and peeling potatoes as Carlisle got an ice pack for Emmett's nose.

"Yes, ma'am, I would be more than happy to help you. Where would you like me?" Eddie snorted and Bella actually swatted his ass as she walked past him, "Young man, you best put a cork in it before you match your partner in crime." Eddie jumped as if he had been shot and squawked, 'Carlisle, Bella is scaring me again!" Carlisle laughed and said, "Bella, smack him a good one for me while you are at it." Eddie huffed and went back to peeling potatoes as Emmett finally got to his feet and stumbled over to help Eddie. I very obediently and quietly began frying up the sausage, flinching from time to time as grease popped and hit me on the chest. I didn't notice her disappear but when she tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a t-shirt, I was grateful. "It's a mans t-shirt, I promise." I slipped it on and didn't fail to notice the badge on the chest. I was wearing her mans shirt. Holy shit.

Cooking with her crew in the kitchen is fun as hell, she has the men in her life operating like a team and before long we are sitting down to a meal the likes of which I haven't had in years. I'm so full now all I want to do is lay down on the floor and sleep for a week, but instead I am standing at the sink with her washing off the dishes and handing them to Carlisle so he can load them in the dishwasher as Ed wipes down the table and Emmett is folding my clean laundry. I can see her tattoo. She knows I can see it. As the last plate is handed to Carlisle and he starts the dishwasher and leaves the kitchen, she says quietly, " I'm not a weirdo. It was hard after Charley died and there were days I couldn't even get out of bed. I was angry and lost and I just wanted to give up even though I had a child. I just had quit caring, quit living. My sis sent me this link to a song one day that she thought might make me laugh. It was a song that was a weird catchy tune about murder that got stuck in my head and it made me laugh. I had to find out who the hell was crazy enough to write a song that was like a kids nursery rhyme about such a thing and it led me to this weird band that had a whole library of songs that were weird and funny. The band was made up of this bunch of guys who took time after their shows to meet and talk to their fans including one who was awkward and not willing interact much. One day the guy who sang the most of the songs took a few minutes for a woman with a young boy and he talked to her and the boy and he was kind to them. It made them both realize that the sun could shine again and she started writing again after that, started living again,got a new job, made some new, wonderful friends that sometimes make her crazy but that have become like family. Life moved on but the love for that band has stayed and they have been the constant sunshine and the fire that lights her life."

She pulled her sleeve back and showed me the whole tattoo. It was the coolest thing, the bands logo surrounded by a pink sunrise, with the logo wearing one of my hats and holding a match that had a flame coming off of it that wrapped up around her wrist and extended up hand. I reached out and traced it with my finger as she looked at me and trembled. "I mean no disrespect. You have meant a lot to me and you helped us in a dark time."

Wow…what the hell to say to that? I am flattered beyond belief and floored that I made that kind of difference to someone. "I am glad I could help. It seems as if maybe things are coming full circle for us and you guys are taking a turn at being my sunshine."

That got a smile out of her. I knew things were going to be interesting living around here and as her moose of a son came up and clapped a huge paw on my shoulder and said, " Soo, we have some things to help you get set up in your apartment if you want, and if you are done getting ogled by my mom, we can take some of it over so you can start getting your place put together."

**Bpov**

At least I know he has had a good meal in him for the day, he has clean clothes to start off the week with, and we got him set up with the basics in his house. I don't know if I have gotten a new tenant or a new kid, but either way, I am happy. Emmett is happy. He says that anything that distracts me from hovering over him is a bonus, so he's all about me wanting to take care of Jasper. Jasper…holy hell, he told me to call him by his first name? Inner me is dying. Its soo damn unfair that he's gay. There should be a rule that gay men have at least the equal amount of flaws as straight men, and maybe somewhere, somehow they do, but where I am at and around the gay men I know, they are all pretty damn perfect. Carlisle and Ed are both handsome, smart, funny, talented, clean and just all around wonderful guys. I don't have a single tenant who really isn't, they are all well groomed and clean and polite, even when you know they have to be in a bad mood. Going out to the pool in the summer was an exercise in frustration and self-restraint as it was just chair after chair of cut, shapely, manscaped bodies that didn't lap over the top of their stylish swim trunks. I had the cleanest pool in town for many, many reasons, not the least of which was the scenery surrounding it that only encouraged me to get out and take my time.

Once the boys left to go over to Carlisle and Eds to get some of the things that they had they could share with Jasper, I realized how quiet it was with them gone and just how tired I am. Its going to be a long week ahead of me, though a lot less stressful now that the apartment is rented and I don't have to worry about showing it to anyone else. I do have a new worry though, protecting his privacy. I don't want anyone to find out he lives here so they can begin harassing him. I know some of them women and he wouldn't have a moments peace if his whereabouts were known, so I am going to set Emmett and the boys down and let them know right off the bat to keep this under their hats so he can be safe and happy, not because I want him all to myself, no, that's not the reason at all


	9. Chapter 9

Yes ma'am, I promise I am going to get it taken care of right away. No ma'am, I am not. I promise you I will make you a grandma some day. Yes, I do realize that was not a straight answer. I am not gay mama, I am straight. No, I just signed a lease for this place up here near uncle Carlisle (who I will be kicking in the taint the minute I get off this damn phone), it's a nice place mama, the lady who manages it is an ex cop and a Texan as well, so there wont be any foolishness going on up here or she will kick my butt and then kick me out. Yes mama, she is a bit of a pistol, she makes Carlisle and Eddie join her for breakfast every Sunday and this last Sunday she made me eat with them. Yes ma'am, she made everything from scratch. No, not as good as yours. Yes, I miss you too and I will see you all soon. Love you too mama, please don't worry or cry anymore, it was just a trick played on my by my former manager, and I am going to get it fixed.

Fuck My Life. Nothing worse that your mom calling and crying at you on the phone, turns you right back to 3 years old. I aint crying, my eyes are just red because of allergies. Now where the hell is Carlisle? I have a taint to kick.

**Bpov**

"Em, don't you want to go over to Eds and practice skateboarding or something? I have these reports to get done and if you keep arguing with your computer I am never going to be able to concentrate." I swear that boy is working my last nerve today. He has been trapped inside because of the rain and he's been in some weird, teen, pms'y mood and its about to make me crazy. "How about you practice your guitar then? You haven't practiced in days. Call up Ed and go to Guitar Center or something, I will even give you a few bucks, but I have to get these done before Wednesday, and if you keep making me crazy, I am going to be late." He growled and went wandering into his room to get his guitar and his cell phone.

'Ed, hey! Wanna go to Guitar Center? Oh…crud. Okay, yeah, no, I didn't need to know that. No, do not sent me a pic message you weirdo, I don't want to see that. Dude, that is gross. How did you manage that? Sick! Well, tell your boyfriend, he's a doctor, he will kiss it and make it all better or something equally disturbing I am sure. No! I am not going to help you pop it. That what you get for doing that, I told you that stuff was bad news. I quit using that after all my pubes went crinkly and turned orange that time, remember? Yeah, dude, it was sick."

Okay…I had to quit listening before I went into the kitchen and got the icepick and voluntarily ruptured my eardrums. I am hoping like hell that Ed has a pimple on his ass. I really don't want to know if its anything else. Boys are just gross and weird and I thanked God daily that Em had guys that I trusted implicitly to be weird and gross with.

"MOOOM! Ed cant go, he has a pimple on his ass and unless I help him pop it, he cant stand to sit long enough to drive over there. I want to go, but the last time I helped him out, I barfed on Carlisle's rug and he banned me from performing any more medical procedures. Will you drive me or pop Eds ass pimple?" I shuddered as for some reason the phrase , "Return to the house of pain" went though my mind. "Em, There is no way in hell I am popping Eds ass pimple. I just got done saying that I need to get these reports done, so either take the Max over to Guitar Center or tell Ed to man up and pop is own ass pimple this time."

**Jpov**

Did I hear that right? Did the woman just say, "Pop his own ass pimple, THIS TIME?" I am standing in her doorway , about to knock on the damn door to ask if she is willing to accept delivery for some packages I have coming if I am not home, and I happen to hear that. Of course she has to look up and see me through the glass standing there with my hand up ready to knock. Em finds this funny as hell, she just cringes and looks like she wants to pretend she didn't just say that. So I try to pretend I didn't hear it, but of course the moose isn't going to let that one slide by.

**Empov**

Oh perfect! Who better to go to a guitar place with than with a guitarist? I also want to pick his brain and find out what he thinks of my mom, so I am not going to let him off the hook. "Hey, dude! Perfect! Are you busy? No? Great! Wanna go to Guitar Center with me? Ed cant go because he has a huge ass pimple and cant sit down, and I have to have a licensed adult to ride with me. You wont have to do anything but sit there, I will even buy you lunch and let you ride in my sweet assed g-ride." "Emmett! Don't bother the man! I am sure he has better things to do than run around with you." Gad! Mom could be such a buzz kill! She wondered why I had bought her that t-shirt that time for her birthday? Well, this was a perfect example. Dude was down with going with me, I could just tell, he just needed a nudge, "C'mon Jasper, you know you wanna go! I need your advice about strings and stuff. Aren't you all about fostering young talent? Well, foster me man, I am young talent! That or come pop Eds ass pimple."

**Jpov**

Okay, that made me laugh. There was no way in hell I was popping anyone's pimples, much less getting near their ass, especially in light of the conversation I had already had with my mama that very morning, so I guess I was going to go with option number two and be the ride along with the moose so Bella could get her reports done without being hassled anymore than she already was.

"Bella, its not a problem. I needed to pick up some new strings and picks anyway, and if he needs some guidance, I have no problem going along and offering him a little subtle advice, or not so subtle if that is what is needed. I am just killing time waiting for some stuff to arrive from back home, so until that gets here, I'm just bored and needing something to do."

"Sweet! Lets motor, dude! Later mom, If you see Ed, give him a kick in his left butt cheek, I promise he will love it." That made me cringe as she waved him off, gesturing towards her wallet that was laying on the counter. 'Em, you can take my debit card, but remember I have to pay your car insurance and if you spend all the money, then you cant drive anymore." He groaned and grabbed the card out of her wallet along with a few dollars she had in cash. I scowled at him and he put the cash back, but it brought my attention to the fact that these weren't rich folk, she had done well for her son, he was clean and well dressed and he had a nice guitar, but they obviously had to be careful with their cash.

His "G-Ride" is a beater Ford pick up truck? Oookay. "Nice wheels dude". He flipped me off as he cranked it up and patted the dash. "It gets me where I need to go and I can haul shit around in it. Once I am old enough to get a real job, I am going to save up and buy a newer truck, but for now, this baby was an awesome score from a bud of my moms in Arizona. It used to be a patrol truck on the border, that's why it has a bad assed engine and the heavier suspension." I wanted to add in, and the crappy paint job, and the weird smell of old coffee and b.o., but I figured he would get offended and I didn't want to walk back home.

Wait a minute. He said "WHEN he gets old enough to get a real job?" Is this moose not even 16 yet? Fuck me! He's over 6ft tall and twice as broad as I am. He's the size of a NFL linebacker and he's not even street legal? Now I am scared. What the hell? "Em, are you not even 16 yet?" He was dicking around with his Ipod, trying to get it to play while steering with one hand and sort of watched the road. 'Dude, if you don't quit fucking around with that thing and keep your eyes on the road, I am going to take over driving. Give the that damn Ipod! What the hell are you trying to play anyway?" He grunted at me and tossed it to me. Scrolling though is a who's who of top 40 crap, obscure country and old school rock. The boy has the most schizophrenic musical tastes I have ever seen. I found a decent Hank Williams mix of 1 and 3 and put it on and that made him grin in appreciation. "I was hoping you would find something decent in there, its needing to be wiped and restarted, but this old country is what me and mom most often agree on without too much of a brawl." I decided to gig him just a little, "Soo, not much of a fan of my stuff?" he grinned, "Dude, that is my moms old ipod, go back to play lists and check out the one called, "Inspiration".

Holy crap! Everything. She had every damn thing from the played one time at a concert and never heard again songs, to our side bands to our close but no cigar, almost hits.

'All of those that she could buy legally, she did, in fact, she bought multiple copies of your cd's to give a Christmas presents to friends for years. When I said she supported your ass, I meant it literally. She doesn't have any other hobbies or even any real vices, those two beers she had the other night were the first two beers she has had in over a decade I am willing to bet, that's why she assed out so easily. You are her hobby. She's not some weird stalker chick or anything, she's just loyal and nerdy as fuck."

Dude, don't call your mom a nerd, its not nice. She's pretty fucking cool if you ask me.

'Well, Jasper, as a matter of fact, I am asking you, What do you think of my mom? Do you like her? Do you know she's single? Are you really not gay? If you aren't gay, you would totally have a chance to get with her. She's been alone for a long time and that is the most sexually frustrated woman in Portland. But Im telling you, she totally thinks you are gay now."

The lil fucker is trying to get his mom laid? What the hell? Good Lord. I am both intrigued and disturbed. Its been a while for me since I got a little something something , but dragging rope through your home corral is often a very bad idea. But, she thinks Im gay? Oh Fuck no! Damn my ex manager,(yes, I had fired their ass, or they had quit, it depended on whose side of the story you got first), I need to get these damn tats fixed, and either get the other nipple pierced, because honestly, that shit was all kinds of fun when used properly, or remove the ring and let it grow shut. There was no way in hell the pecker piecing was going away, that got all kinds of rave reviews and obviously it was an attention getter, I had noticed she had lingered more than a few seconds on it when I had strolled out naked that morning.

"Dude, im not gay, your mom is cool but what makes you think she would even be interested in me, im not exactly the easiest person to get along with and she might not be in to guys like me."

Damn, that kid could laugh loud


	10. Chapter 10

Another boring day in the office. I really don't know why I actually keep office hours on the weekend when everyone who lives in this complex knows where I live and they have no problem with coming by anytime day or night to tell me what they need or any problems they may be having, but corporate isn't a very think out side the box kind of company and since all the large complexes have office hours on at least one day of the weekend for a few hours, they expect me to do the exact same thing. At least I can wander around the internet and read the latest stories about Jasper and giggle like a fiend knowing that they are all WRONG! I know where he is, I know what hes been doing and there is no way in hell I am going to spill a word about it.

I know he doesn't sleep a lot. Cant judge him too much there because I don't either. He is pretty quiet, I am sure my kid is much noisier than he ever thought of being. He smokes, a lot, and I am more than suspicious its not all tobacco, but I remind myself its Portland and I am no longer a cop, as long as its not in the apartment and the smell doesn't get too overpowering, then im not going to say anything. Em sure seems to like him as do Carlisle and Ed, in fact, those guys have been thick as thieves ever since he moved in and while I am glad he has made some friends, I get the weird feeling that they are all up to something, Em especially has been odd lately. He's been bossy around me ever since he got to be a teenager and somehow decided that gave him the life wisdom and experience to try and tell me how to dress and behave in order to have a more successful dating life, but now he just acts like everything I do is embarrassing to him.

**Empov**

Oh man! I thought I had gotten rid of that shirt! "Carlisle, dude! You are going to have to help me out with her. I try to get her to change her ways, suggest new clothes and things she could wear, and she just tells me that when I let her pick out my clothes, she will let me pick out her clothes. I cant go back to the sweater vests and khakis, man! I just cannot do it!" Why are they laughing at me? Its really not funny. The woman dressed me like a short, gay, fashion victim for years until I was finally bigger than her and able to resist being tackled and wrestled into what she thought was an, 'Adorable" sweater. The woman should have really had a daughter, she didn't cut my hair until I was nearly 5, so for a while people thought she DID have a girl. I still cant look at my baby pictures without getting upset. "Do you guys know what she pointed out to me the other day in a store that she thought would look, "Cute" on me? A Vest! Can you believe that shit? What the hell kind of guy wears a vest anymore?" Oh hell…Now I've stepped in it. They are all three looking at me with smirks on their faces.

**Cpov**

Kids…what the hell do they know? Yes, Bellas style is a little, uh…odd? But its not horrible, though I could see how it could be affecting her social life. Here we are watching the poor woman sitting at her desk in what passes for business attire for her. Its her black jeans, the ones that are just slightly over child sized and still sag off her ass, with brown boots that had seen better days a decade ago and smell like it, along with a blue sweat shirt that is from her days as a firefighter when she was TWENTY! I wish I could still wear clothes from when I was 20, but if I did, Eddie would just swipe them and wear them, but then he would look really good in them…oh wait, back to Bella. Her hair, oh good Lord! Em tells me he caught her with scissors about to go at it again and had to talk her down after it kept getting in her face during the wind we had the other day and she couldn't find her favorite ball cap, (which she has obviously found as its now perched on her head), she has nice hair, but the woman needs some schooling in what to do with it. I don't think she has had a professional hairstyle in over a decade and we wont even talk about makeup or her nails, which are mostly chewed down to the quick. Im pretty sure she shaves her legs and I know she shaves her arm pits because, well, I have to give her shots in her shoulders every few months I would know if she didn't. She's not a total train wreck, she just really doesn't see the point of trying anymore because she thinks no one notices.

**Jpov**

'Don't hate on vests dude, they are cool and chicks like them, at least they do if you wear them like I do." There, that made the smartassed fucker look like he might be reconsidering a thing or two. Why they hell are they picking on this poor woman? I mean she is pretty damn entertaining to watch as she sits in her office and mutters at her computer. I know she's looking at pictures of me, and that puts quite a snap in the ole boxer briefs to know that even though she thinks I bat for the home team, she still finds me interesting. "Why do you think you need to change how she dresses? What's wrong with it?"

"Uh, dude, if you want her to stay convinced you are into guys, then absolutely nothing because she dresses like a dude, but she needs to start dressing like a chick so she can get some action. She has been alone for too long and I know she wants to meet someone, she's just given up. I've been through her computers history and I know she tried an online dating site a while back, but all she got were a bunch of geezers and weird dork loser types that wouldn't have lasted five minutes with her. I'm tempted to just go in and strip out her entire wardrobe and force her to replace it with some decent clothes."

A light bulb seemed to go on in everyone's brain at the same time, " Lets do that! Lets get all the worst of it and hide it. She will be pissed at me and I will be in the dog house, but in the mean time, we can force her to do something about it." Her boy seemed to be on a roll with the idea, but there was one little thing he was neglecting to consider, women's clothes were expensive, (don't ask me how I knew that, I just do), and with money being snug for them, I didn't want her to be stressed out.

'Uh, excuse me for raining on your parade there, jr., but there is one thing you aren't considering, women's clothes are spendy and wouldn't your mom having to spend money on clothes right before Christmas put a huge amount of stress on her?"

He frowned for a moment but then he grinned really big, "Oh no, I have an ace in the hole with my aunty Rose in Texas. She always sends me a huge check for my birthday and Christmas and instead of spending it on my own selfish needs, I am going to call her and tell her what I am planning and I guarantee she will not only send it early, she will probably send me double, she has been after my mom for years to dress more like a civilized human being." Eddie and Carlisle both piped up and said they would chip in and contribute gift cards to women's stores and even a nicer salon to get her hair done. They decided that since they were contributing the means, I should contribute the ends.

'What the hell do you mean I have to take her shopping? What makes me an expert on women's style and fashion?" Eddie…that fucker, I swear to God I was going to end up drowning him in the pool, he clicked on a couple of links and the next thing I knew we were watching one of my most infamous acting gigs. 'You are the only one of us to ever cross-dress and man, I gotta tell you, you were really damn good at it, wasn't he Em?"

And there they go wrestling on the floor…Carlisle just rolls his eyes and lifts the computer up out of the way and says, 'I will be working doubles for the next few weeks, Eddie and Em are hopeless as you well may know, and if we let her go alone, it will just be the same old thing. If you go with her, you will make her month and you will make sure she at least comes home with something that vaguely resembles something that belongs on a woman, wont you? She really does need some quality social time, she never spends anything on herself, including time. Come on, you do this and I will get your mom off your back by telling her the kind things your are doing for a poor widow woman."

Oh that is such dirty pool, but I was already willing to do it before he sweetened the pot. She needed help, that was plain to see, and considering she had been washing my clothes and feeding me Sunday breakfast for the past couple of weeks, I had to start repaying the favors to the woman or I was never gonna get square with her.

"Ill do it, but I don't think we should throw out her old clothes. I have some things that I know are really special to me and if someone went in and just threw them out, I would never forgive them. How about we just stash them for a little bit and give her time to get used to dressing a little different?"

I knew how it felt to get a pair of jeans to fit just right and all soft and comfy, and I would be pissed as all get out if someone had tossed them out. I tended to wear the same jeans til they pretty much rotted and fell apart at the seams and I had a feeling she was the same way, looking at that sweater.

'Okay, here's the plan, Carlisle? You stay here and keep an eye on her on the video feed. If she looks like she is getting up, you give us a heads up via the phone. We will bag up all her stuff and stash it with you Jasper." Emmett looked really pleased that he had come up with that idea.

"Why at my house? If she finds it, she's going to kill me or think im some kind of pervert."

"Dude, she's seen that video of you and your buddy singing about what you are thinking about when fucking…she knows you are a pervert." Damn! Eddie is pretty good at wrestling, but the element of surprise is on my side. He didn't expect me to jump on his ass and put him in a headlock so I could make him smell my armpit for a bit.

Okay, being in her room to steal all her clothes is officially the weirdest thing I have done in a long damn time. I feel like a weirdo. Em and Eddies giggling is not helping matters very much.

Em starts in the closet with Eddie while I start on her dresser. Of course I would get the delicates, what there are of them. "Uh, Em, does your mom not wear drawers? There are like two pair in here along with one very worn out bra and some socks that are so threadbare that they would be better suited to the trash bin than a woman's drawer.

"Dude, she keeps saying she needs to make a trip to Victoria Secrets, but she always says she's too busy or too broke or she just doesn't see the reason. To tell you the truth, I think she goes commando most of the time."

What? Really? Whoa…that's a thought to digest later on along with the image of the B.O.B and the mostly empty economy sized box of batteries I had just stumbled across in the back of the drawer. Em was right, the woman had to be one of the most sexually frustrated women in Portland.


	11. Chapter 11

Finally! Another day at the office done. Refereed a spat between a couple of my residents over a misunderstanding and got them to kiss and make up,(literally), got all my reports turned and corporate is finally happy. It was a typical unexciting weekend office day, and I am looking forward to relaxing at home this evening and then breakfast with my boys tomorrow. I've decided to make ham and cheesy grits for them as a special treat, so I'm going to cook the grits tonight, hide them from Em and then cold slice them for frying with the ham tomorrow.

What's with the note on the door? " Mom, come to the guys place, we need to talk." Okay, that's weird. I thought we were going to order Thai food and then he was taking off with some friends to go see some movie? I was going to cook, watch a movie of my own with the blinds tightly drawn and the sound down a little lower than normal so as not to alert the star of said film that it was, in fact, being watched next door, and then I was going to write for a while. Had plans changed? I didn't really like audibles, but what the hell, maybe they were trying to get me out of my rut.

**Jpov**

They looked nervous. Those goofy fuckers had gone and over-stepped it and now they were starting to have second thought, I could see it in their faces. It was too damn late to back out now though! All her clothes, what there were of them, were stashed at my place with the exception of a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts she would need to get her through the shopping trip and there was no way in hell I was going to let her find out that I had those clothes and risk getting my ass kicked for them to back the hell out on me. Em had already called his aunt and she hadn't wanted to waste time with mailing a check, after she had finally stopped laughing and saying, "She's gonna kill ya'll!" she had transferred the money into Em's bank account. The lil fucker had more money than he had sense because he had said, "I wonder if she would get mad if I bought myself a new deck with some of this."

All three of us smacking him on his skull had brought sense to him before he had contemplated that thought too long, and Carlisle had confiscated his debit card before any damage could be done, citing some unfortunate incident with an Itunes account and a alias named, "Cornholio" that had cost his mom a couple hundred bucks.

"Dude, really? Wow, your poor mom. "

"Oh shut it, Jasper! I could tell Em a few things about crap you pulled on your parents that would leave no doubt who the asshole son prize should go to. My poor sister, I swear, you have probably taken years off her life with all the shenanigans you got up to when you were a teen, so don't go giving Em a hard time. Hes a good kid."

Whoa…methinks Carlisle is a bit techy. Perhaps a bit nervous?

"Thanks dad! I love you too!" Em jumps up and runs over and dives on top of Carlisle and hugs him. "Ugh! Get off of me you moose! Your mom is going to kick all of our asses and I blame you for talking me into this crazy assed idea." He gently shoved Em to the floor and pulled Eddie into his arms like some giant, demented teddy bear. I need to enjoy my last few moment alive with the man I love." Eddie grinned but didn't look up from his phone, where he had been playing some annoying game where he killed zombies or some bullshit that made him alternately cuss like a sailor and then giggle like a maniac. He totally skewed the whole gay coolness dynamic.

"Ya'll didn't think this shit though did you? Now we are all gonna die and its all your own damn fault. Here I am, an innocent bystander in this mess, and now you are going to get me on her bad side. I don't want to be on her bad side, I want to be on her good side."

Eddie, that numb nuts, takes that moment to look up and grin and say, "I know what she would like to be on!" Em tackles him and its mayhem after that with everyone rolling around on the floor throwing punches and smelling arm pits and other unsavory things until a voice says, " I don't know why the hell you left me a note asking me to come over here for this, you know I am not into your weird wrestling matches."

"Oh Bella, tell the truth, you know you would like to wrestle with at least one person here!" Eddie, that asshole! Oh I got him that time, all sly and stealthy like with a slow grinding knee to the nards. "Oooof! No fair!" he rolled up like an armadillo and whined while the rest of us got up and tried to sort of look presentable.

"Mom, we asked you here today because we want to help you with a problem."

Oh boy, this was going to be good. She knew something was up and if she had gone by her bedroom first then we would all probably be getting our asses kicked. I knew I better step up and try to finesse this pretty damn quick before she got embarrassed and hurt.

"Bella, what Em is trying to say, is that your family and friends wanted to give you an extra special Christmas present this year. Instead of a new coffee cup or something you don't really need, what you are getting is an all expenses paid shopping trip and makeover day out with me. I know its not very fancy, but it includes lunch and you wont have to put up with Em taking you to Taco Bell either. Would you please accept?" I pulled out all the stops, my best "Aw shucks ma'am" smile, a slight bow and hand extended to her with my other hand over my chest to convey the utmost in sincerity. Most women from 7 to 70 ate it up, and even Bella paused for a moment.

"What did you do?" She glared at Emmet and the other two while studiously ignoring me. "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO." She walked towards Emmet and poked him in the chest and then she glared at the rest of us. Oh shit. I now know it is very possible for a mans balls to retract up into their throat.

She abruptly turned and stomped back out the door as we all sat there in shock. "Oh fuck oh fuck! Oh fuck! Jasper, Eddie, Carlisle, it was nice knowing you but I am going now. See ya suckers." Em headed for the door, his truck keys in his hand as Eddie grabbed his ankles and wrapped up around his legs. "No way Dude! You are not leaving us to face this alone! This was your idea and you are going to help us deal with this!"

'Dude, you saw her! She even blew HIM off! If he cant get her calm, then we are soo fucking dead. I'm gonna go live with my aunty, you guys are on your own."

"Emmett! Calm the hell down. I've got this. You two, don't let him get too far. If I'm not back in an hour, Carlisle, you know where to send the remains." I'm going to go make this right. I know I'm taking my life into my hands by dealing with a woman who has not only had her most personal space violated, she has also just been made to feel like she's not pretty, and that shit aint right. 'Better yet, if I'm not back by MORNING, you know where to send the remains. Emmett, count on sleeping here tonight." I gave them my best grin and headed into the lions den.

**Bpov**

It had been a good day, I should have known that something bad was going to happen to fuck it up. Total and utter humiliation is the only way to describe what I am feeling. Its bad enough to know that my son and my family thinks I am awkward and that I dress badly, but for HIM to be there to see my humiliation? I just want to crawl under a rock and hide. I know they all mean well, but GOD! What the hell made them think now of all times was the right time to do this to me? The anniversary of Charleys death is less than a week away and Im already a bit of an emotional mess, add into it finding out Jaspers gay and the holidays? it's a true Fuck My Life moment.

They have been in my room. Oh my God…They have been in my closets and my dresser? Oh good Lord! That box of batteries! They probably thought …Oh no…oh noo!

**Jpov**

Is she crying? Oh no, this aint gonna do at all. She may very well kick my ass, but I am not going to stand by while a woman crys in front of me. "Bella, honey?" I sat down next to her on her bed and put my arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry. We were just trying to help and in our typical dumbass guy way, we messed it up. I honestly think you look just fine." I squeezed her to me a little tighter and tried to get her to raise her head up, but she just slumped there, quietly crying.

"Its not your fault. You had no way of knowing. I miss him so damn much and this time of year just reminds me all over that he's gone, im alone and im always going to be alone." Oh…no. "Bella, you aren't going to always be alone. You are a wonderful woman that has a lot to offer. Just you wait. All we were trying to do was help you replace some of your old things and spend some time and money on yourself because you spend so much time and effort taking care of everyone else, we know that you don't have time or energy to take care of yourself. We didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You mean a lot to us and we just wanted to show you that."

"Oh Jasper, I know. Its just a bad time of year for me, and then it's just a real sore point for me. I know im not girly, but I try at times and it does me absolutely no good. I just have no girly skills."

No "Girly Skills"? What the hell? Who had done such a total mindfuck on this woman? I was going to have a real serious talk with Em once things got sorted out and calmed down. 'Listen here, you have plenty of girly skills. You just haven't had occasion to use them for awhile, so they just need a bit of modernization. Why don't you take me up on that offer? I could really use a day out shopping anyway, I still have to get Christmas presents for my family and I could really use a womans input, so we could kill two birds with one stone, have a day of it on their dime and just have some fun, please? For me?"

I broke out the sad, puppy dog eyes that were the go to I used with my momma when I had really fucked up bad, they never failed and sure enough, she went for it.

"Okay, I guess it couldn't hurt, but no dresses. I am just not a dress person. I havent been my entire life and I don't see that changing anytime soon."

"Well, I have nothing to say about that. Im not overly fond of dresses myself, I find em to be a bit drafty and they show off my knobby knees." Okay, now I have her laughing.

"Bella, while its just us in here alone and talking, I have to ask, that box of batteries…"

Wow! Her face sure can turn red.

"You went through my drawers? You are the one who found him? Oh My God! I can just die right now because my humiliation is complete. That box of batteries is not all me. Most of them were used in the complex smoke detectors, I have used maybe 6 of them over the last year!"

I couldn't help it, I had to grin, she referred to it as a, "Him". I was willing to bet that, "He" had a name and I was damn sure going to get it out of her.

'Soo, Bella…What's his name? I mean, c'mon, you already let the cat out of the bag by saying , "Him", and knowing what I know about a thing or two, I am willing to bet that he has a name, so what is it? You tell me your secret and Ill tell you mine." I stretched back on her bed, relaxing and looking at her like I didn't have a care in the world. We were gonna , 'Girl talk" away her hurt and her stress.

**Bpov**

Oh my God he is laying on my bed and he wants me to lay next to him? Get thee behind me Satan! Does the boy not know what he is risking? A woman can only take soo damn much before she snaps and does something totally demented. Oh God, cuddling with him is the best thing ever. But there is no way in hell I am telling him my B.O.B's name. He would die, I would die, we would never be able to make eye contact ever again, things would get awkward and its just not going to happen. Deflect, deflect, deflect.

" Why did you get your piercing Jasper?"

**Jpov**

Oh, nice way to try and change the subject. I have a pretty damn good idea what her B.O.B,'s name is, but im not going to push that issue. The poor woman looked absolutely mortified when I asked and that was answer enough. Kinda flattering I have to say. So here we are, laying half on, half off her bed. Im cuddling her up, pretending to be her gay friend who is comforting her. We are talking about all kinds of shit, the real reason I got my piercing and my tattoos, and what happened with the band as well as my acting. She is easy to talk to and its nice just laying cuddled up to someone warm and soft who smells nice. I kick my boots off to get more comfortable and we end up all the way on her bed, just laying there talking. She tells me about her man and raising her kid and let me tell you buddy, there is no doubting her love of that knucklehead.

Her hair is soft, and its nice to pet, and I begin to doubt my ability to maintain the whole, "Gay" thing around her.


	12. Chapter 12

Mmm, soft and warm and smells soo nice. Love the way his skin feels so warm under my fingers and how he fits so nicely against me and so firmly in all the places he's supposed to be firm. Mmm his neck tastes soo nice and his hands are just as strong as I imagined they would be as he pulls me to him and he rolls on top of me, I can feel just that he is just as eager to answer my questions about his piercing with a demonstration.

Wha..wait! Oh my God! This is not a dream.

"Jasper? Jasper? Wake up!"

Oh my God! Does he sleep hump? We must have fallen asleep together after my meltdown and I was just about to take advantage of him! Oh my good Lord! I want to take advantage of him. He feels soo good and he's just right there… and oh my good Lord, he's hard! Wait…he's hard? Does he think I'm a guy? Oh God! I really DO need a makeover.

His eyes slowly open and he looks down at me like he's where he should be, and then it seems to dawn on him just where he is at and where he is AT.

"Oh my good Lord! Bella! I'm soo sorry!"

He's still laying on top of me, but now he looks too freaked out to move. We are laying there, my arms around him, his arms around me, he's looking at me, I'm looking at him, and while I want him to move, I wouldn't say 'Off" of me is that way I would choose for him to go.

He's still hard. Very, very, hard. Shouldn't it have gone down by now? Is he confused? Am I confusing him? Should I confuse him some more? I would really, really, like to.

**Jpov. **

Oh my good gravy! I'm in trouble. I'm in big, big, trouble. She can feel it. I can tell by that look on her face. If I move even an inch im gonna be in a world of a hurts soo good kinda hurt that I will be tempted to chuck the whole, 'Gay" thing right out the window and just put a smile on both of our faces. I just don't want to risk rushing things and hurting her. She's got a lot on her plate coming up in the next couple of weeks and a quick and dirty with a bum like me is not the best thing for her right now.

"Bella, Im soo sorry! I don't know what the hell happened."

"Uh, Jasper? Its quite alright. I'm okay.(beyond okay, but im not going to tell him that), are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, hun. I'm fine. Just thinking I need to get off of you."

"No rush, don't hurt yourself." Oh God…why did I say that? Now he thinks I'm some kind of perv just using him for my own pleasure.

"I'm just afraid of hurting you hun" In soo many ways I'm thinking, but I don't say that to her. She's older than me and probably thinks she's got a lifetime more experience than me, but I've done things, things she probably couldn't even imagine.

"Jasper?"

"Yeah Bella?

"Are you sure you're gay?"

I don't know what to do other than what I did next. She was just there. Looking at me. So calm and looking like she was okay with whichever direction things went, and its been so damn long since I had any form of physical affection, I just went for it. I bent down and kissed her.

Oh God! He's kissing me? He's KISSING ME! Its soft and sweet and wonderful and oh my gooodness I may never kiss another straight man in my life.

"Bella, I'm not sure of anything at the moment, but I do know we need to stop. I gotta pee, and if we don't check in with the fellas pretty soon, we are going to have all kinds of company."

Speak of the devil. I no more than tell her that than we hear the sound of the front door to the apartment open and moose enters followed by what can only be Beavis and Butthead.

"Mom? Mom?"

A mad scramble ensues and of course I end up getting kneed right in the dick. "Ughhhh! Oh God! I'm dying. Oh God. Bella, You killed me." She starts apologizing and worst of all begins rubbing affected part. "Bella! That's NOT helping! Ohhh OhhhUhhhhhuuuuhhh" She jerks her hand back like its been burned and I take my turn rolling up like an armadillo just as the pack of happy, hopping, morons descends upon us.

"Mom! What are you guys doing? Oh jeeze mom! Did you wrack him again? Man, I am soo sorry. Its all my fault.

"Em, shut up! Its okay, It was an accident. We are fine. We just lost track of time yesterday and fell asleep. We were getting up to come get you guys to fix breakfast when you came crashing in." Bella was fussing around the room, trying to find my boots and her boots and separate the two, as the guys stared at us like we had been up to what we had almost been up to, so I for some reason, developed ratchet jaw as a side effect of all the tension in the room.

"Uh, Jasper?" Eddie…God dammit. Don't really want to know what he's going to say and looking at that grin on his face, I know its going to be good.

"Yeah, Ed?"

"Why were you two in bed together?"

"Ed?"

"Yeah Bella?"

"Leave the boy alone or you are going to have to deal with me."

"Yes Bella."

'C'mon guys, lets get breakfast going. I'm hungry so I know the rest of you have to just about to be starving." Cool as a cucumber. Damn! The woman has a hell of a poker face now, wonder why she didn't use that when she met me? Food for thought for later.

Carlisle is giving me quite a look. Oh shit. "What did you do?" he whispers in my ear after she leads the way to the kitchen, giving us a moment to ourselves as Eddie and Em trail after her like a couple of starving hound pups.

"Nothing, thanks to you chuckleheads. OUCH! God Dammit! What the hell was that for?" I hate getting smacked in the back of the head. It seemed to be everyone's go to where I was involved, im kinda surprised I don't have brain damage from it. 'Dammit Jasper, don't you do anything to hurt her or your mom will be the least of your worries."

Carlisle, I am not gonna hurt her, we were just talking and we fell asleep. We both much have had some really damn interesting dreams because we woke up in a really interesting position. She wanted ME. I kissed her, that was it! Nothing more, nothing less, though God knows she damn sure wanted more!"

"You kissed her?" The look on Carlisle's face was pretty damn funny, kinda like he wasn't sure if he was happy or grossed out.

"Yeah, I did. I think she needed it."

"What about her thinking you are gay?"

"I think she thinks I'm confused, which hell, at this point I don't even know what the hell I am anymore its been so damn long and I've been kneed in the junk so many times." I actually am pretty damn amazed my parts are still sort of in the right place. With all the damage the woman had done accidentally, if she ever went after me with malice and intention, I would be a eunuch in short order.

"Mom said if you guys don't come out to the kitchen and help cook, she's gonna come get you." Em leaned in the door giving me the raised eyebrow like he thought I would clue him in about what went on between me and his mom.

"Forget about it buddy boy, im a don't ask don't tell kinda guy and you really don't want to know anyway, trust me, there are just some things that are best left a mystery and parent sex is one of them."

"Oh Dude! Eww! What the hell? No! No! Do not share any of that with me. Just, remember what I said when we first met, 'kay?" He gave me that same bright smile and I couldn't help but flinch a little.

"I remember man, I remember and no worries. I would no sooner hurt her than I would hurt my own mom. Now, as for her hurting me? Do you still have that ice pack?"

**Empov**

I cock-blocked my own mom. Oh shit. I have a feeling there are going to be repercussions for this. She's already pissed at me for the whole clothing thing, and then I cock block her from getting laid by the one guy who she would really, really like to get laid by, even though she suspects he's gay. I have no idea how in the hell she thought that was going to work, maybe it would have been a pity lay? That would have been cool and then uncool because while I haven't shared the awesomeness that is me with anyone else yet, I do happen to know that getting it, is a lot like Pringles, you cant stop with just one. If mom wouldn't kill me for the off the hook hot water bills, I would never leave the shower. I quit doing anything in the supposed privacy of my room after one too many comments from mom about her getting tired of finding my, "Special socks", but seriously, what the hell was I supposed to use? Normal teen guys don't keep Kleenex in their rooms, do they?

"Mom? What do you want me to do?" I'm almost afraid to ask, but she's got everybody else busy doing stuff and I am just standing here with my teeth in my head.

"Oh , Em! Could you grate up the cheese in the fridge? Im going to make cheesy grits for supper, and if that part is already done then it will make things go a lot fast." Cheesy grits? She smiled at me? Oookkkaaay…so she's either not mad at me or maybe they were just finishing up when we came in? Eww! Mental floss! Brain bleach! I with that thought in my mind I will be taking a quick shower today.


	13. Chapter 13

Shopping with Jasper? I am going shopping with Jasper Whitlock? Huh. On the weird shit o meter of my life, this one is pretty far off the scale. His personal fashion sense has always seemed to be pretty much all over the damn place so I have no idea what to expect. He has looked like everything from a young rock star that crawled out of the back of a grubby tour bus wearing the same faded and grubby jeans he had been wearing for at least 3 days, to an over-poodled celebrity that looked like he had been dressed by a stylist with a grudge against him. He tended towards the typically metrosexual look that most of the boys in my complex had with the carefully groomed hair, the shabby chic plaids and skinny jeans that were artfully sagged just low enough to hide whatever he had lurking behind his zipper. I was worried, but I also knew I could take him. He wanted to drive and while that sounded okay in theory, in practice, he had a bit of a reputation as a speed demon and his car, if you could call it that, was more of a toaster with an attitude than a real car. I was going to let him drive, but we were going to take my Bronco, he just didn't know it yet. It might not be as fancy or as shiny, but for my sanity, it was necessary.

"Hey, are you ready?" Oh my goodness! Did the man have to look and smell so damn good so early in the morning? I know we were going to some nice places, but damn! Make me feel like a total scrub.

"Yeah, I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be. Are you sure you want to be seen with me?" Oh good Lord! Does he have to smile like that and give me his arm? What man does that anymore? I want him. I want him right now. There is room in my Bronc, we could be late for my hair appointment, no one would notice if I didn't show, or better yet, I could just drag his young ass into the house and lock the door. Em went with Carlisle and Eddie to the coast for the day to try surfing again, (at least until seaweed touches his leg, again), so no one will be home… "Bella?"

"Oh, yeah! Uh…sure, but we are taking my truck."

**Jpov**

I'm driving her truck? Cool! Who woulda thought such a runty chick would be the one who owned the cool bronco with the lift on it? Okay, so its not so dignified having to kinda jump a little to get up into it after I open the passenger door for her and help her in, but at least the guys aren't here to laugh at me as it takes a couple of good hops to get up into the seat.

"Uh, Jasper? If you hit the switch on the keychain, a step comes out from under the door. It kinda eliminates the need for the hopping thing, though I gotta say, I kinda enjoyed it."

She's laughing? She is. Nice! "I'm here for your amusement mi'lady"

Good Lord, he is too cute, even with that odd hat he's wearing, I would still wreck that if given half the chance. I cant wait to spend the day with him.

"Jasper?"

"Yes Bella?"

"How fast were you going?" Honestly? I really don't know how the hell fast I was going. Im kinda afraid to find out and by the time I looked, I had already slammed on the brakes a little to slow us down as a reflex reaction.

"Bella, I don't know."

"Oh shit. Well, I guess it's a good thing I have my insurance paid up to date and the tags are good."

Yeah…good for her, for me however, there might be a slight problem.

"Good morning sir, do you have any idea how fast you were going?"

"No, officer. I'm sorry, I don't." I'm going with really damn polite right now, really damn polite.

"License, registration and proof of insurance, please sir?"

"Officer? I will have to get the registration and insurance out of the glove box, is that okay with you?" Bella leans forward and smiles at him like she doesn't have a care in the world, and she, of course, doesn't. I am the one who is screwed six different ways from Sunday.

'Yes ma'am, just please move slowly. Sir? Drivers license?"

"Yeah, about that officer, my license seems to be out of date."

"Out of date? Well, sir, let me see it and we will go from there."

Bella hands over the registration and insurance as I get my wallet out and hand him a license that is not only a badly expired out of state license, the picture in no way resembles me anymore.

He looks at the license, looks at me and says, "Wait right here."

It doesn't take long, hes back at the window looking a lot less friendly.

"Sir, I need you to step out of the vehicle." Fuck.

"Jasper? What's wrong?"

I should have gotten that damn license taken care of when I decided to stay here for awhile, but its just such a hassle when I move around so much, and usually I carry my passport with me everywhere, but today since we were just going to be out and about in town, I just had my wallet with the basics. I had totally forgotten about it right up until I saw the cop behind us.

"Bella, my license is out of date and the information isn't accurate. Its not really a big deal but I don't have my passport with me to prove who I am."

Oh jeeze…really? Hes driving around on an invalid drivers license with no proof of identity on him? He better be really nice to the officer or this could end with a trip to the county lock up while I head home to hunt through his things for his passport. THAT would be all kinds of fun. Wonder if I can call in a favor or two, the poor guy looks like hes about to pass a litter of Twinkies as he nearly falls out of my truck onto the side of the road and the officer swoops in and prones him up against the side of my truck for a pat down. Fuck. I guess I better.

'Hey Sam! Yeah, How's it going? Good, Good! Yeah, listen, I need a huge favor. Yes, Its big enough that we will be square and I will send you the negative. One of your boys over in East county has me pulled over on the 205 right now and they have my friend out of the vehicle on an expired license with no proof of I.d. I can without a doubt validate this boy as a civilian and a good egg. Yeah, I would stake dinner on it. Hold on, okay?

'Excuse me, officer? Could I get your name and call number? Thank you!"

Yeah Sam, it looks pretty serious, he has my friend already cuffed up and all his stuff all over the hood of his car, so if you would hurry up I would greatly appreciate it. Yeah, Jasper Whitlock. Laugh it up, Sam. You wouldn't want him in the jail, you know he would be a liability anyway. No, I still have my own damn cuffs, but thanks for the offer. Make the call please."

Oh Sam is taking his sweet assed time calling this guy. He's putting Jasper in the back of the patrol car and what a sad little sight that is. Poor boy, I almost want to snap a picture, but that shit would not be funny to him I am sure. I guess I know who will be driving the rest of the day. Oh, here comes the officer, and there goes his phone.

Mike,(the officers name) really was a good sport about losing the arrest. He had a tween daughter at home and thought he recognized Jasper from somewhere, and he was damn sure dreading being the cop who arrested one of his daughters crushes. The call from Sam made us both happy, but he was willing to play along with me for a moment to tease Jasper just a little.

"Okay ma'am, I will release him into your custody, but I am warning you, if he even steps one toe out of line, we have a place for guys like him, and its not fun." Mike glared at Jasper and grasping the collar of his shirt, handed him over to me like he was a run away dog on a cheap leash. He then went and quickly got in his patrol car and drove off, leaving Jasper standing next to me on the side of the road with his hands cuffed behind him.

**Jpov**

Hey! I think he forgot something! What the hell?

"Well hell! Jasper, I think he got another call. You would think he would have uncuffed you before he took off like that though. I guess we better hope I still have a spare pair of cuff keys laying around somewhere." She was grinning at me with a very predatory look in her eye, and if I didn't know the woman better, I might have been worried, but as things stood, my biggest concern was how in the hell I was supposed to get back into that tall assed truck with my hands cuffed behind my back.

**Bpov**

The look on his face was priceless. And yeah, I have an extra cuff key in my truck, as a matter of fact its on my key chain in the ignition of the truck, but he hadn't noticed it, not many people did. Its old, had it for nearly 18 years. A young, cute officer gave it to me when we first met a long, long time ago when life was a lot different and I was a lot different. I'm trying not to think about him too much today, at least not with sadness. He would have liked this boy standing here in cuffs on the side of the road, if for nothing else other than the fact he didn't seem to rattle too easy in spite of all the curve balls that keep getting thrown at him.

"Turn around sugar britches, bend over just a little. You know the position, don't you?"

**Jpov**

Oh holy hell that's hot. I have goose bumps and another problem that will be making itself known shortly if she keeps that up. Her breath on my neck as she uncuffs me and giggles just a little? Good lord, the woman is enjoying this just a little, isn't she?

"How did you get me aloose?"

She laughed. "I had a friend who owed me a big favor that I had been holding over him for a very long time. Today turned out to be his and your lucky day."

She called in a favor to keep my butt out of jail? Wow. She must really like me.

"So, you know you will be going and getting your license sorted out like, tomorrow, right?""Oh yes ma'am I will." She smiled at me just as she signaled and then pulled back out into traffic.

"Can I keep the cuffs though?"

"Whatever floats your boat. I have plenty of my own."

Holy hell.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N Last chapter of 2011! Its been a great year and I want to thank you all for the support. I especially want to thank my inspiration for lighting the fire that has kept me burning so I will be here to see my kids fly. I would have been lost without an outlet to redirect it all. May the new year find you all with the ability to love and be loved, to live a life full of passion and joy of living your dream and helping others to reach theirs. **

Getting my hair done in a style picked out by him was surreal. Thank God he was into me keeping my hair at a moderate length and fairly low maintenance. I didn't get the whole idea of, "Highlights and lowlights until after they were done, but I gotta say, they do look pretty decent. The whole mani/pedi thing was weird but not unpleasant and it was funny to sit next to him and chat while they were doing all kinds of things to us. I drew the line at getting waxed with him right there, unless he was going to let me watch it get done to him. The little perv would have been fine with it, but no, nuh uh, not gonna happen, so we just went on about our business and hit the Pioneer place mall for some shopping.

It's a nice place to shop, but damn is it expensive! I have been shopping at thrift stores and Old Navy for years without any problems, I don't see the need to change now, but he's steering me into all kinds of places I have always just window shopped in the past.

"So darker jeans make you look younger and they do make jeans that actually fit women my size that aren't in the children's section? Cool!"

**Jpov **

She is a hoot. That is all there is to say about it. Never had a mani/pedi? That blew me away. I don't think I have ever met a woman before that could have said that. Never had a professional coloring? Fucking hell! I think she should be on a show or something because she has got to be the most unusual woman on earth. She has been using the same shaving cream as her son and cheap, disposable razors for years, never had a professional waxing or any of that business, doesn't own a diamond ring, no gold and once pulled her own tooth before she got health insurance? I don't know if she's the toughest or the craziest woman alive. I'm hoping she's enjoying herself, and as talkative as she is, it seems as if she is. I'm sneaking pictures of her as the day goes along because I'm sure Em and the boys will want to see the transformation. She looked as if years were lifting off of her and the grin on her face was as bright as the rarely seen sun.

" So, mi'lady, where would you like to have your dinner? We seem to have wiled away the day and now we are going to have to have our supper out, so the sky is the limit. I promised you a good meal and I intend to see to it you have a good one."

She looked like she was thinking really hard. "I don't know, I have never really eaten out any place fancy because as a single mom on a budget, I have always kept it simple. Either Em was too young to take to anyplace nice or he was an eating machine I couldn't afford to take to anyplace nice, so I haven't been to anyplace fancy since I have lived in Portland."

Oh. My. Good. Lord. The woman lives in a city chock a block full of some to the best restaurants in the world and she hasn't indulged in anything spendier than Burgerville? Okay, Ruths it is.

Watching her freak out at the prices was a little funny, but then seeing her actually enjoy the food was even better though the noises she made about created a problem for me.

"Uh, you must really be enjoying that steak."

"Really? What makes you say that?" She gives me a look that leads me to believe she knew exactly what kind of sounds she was making eating that steak and exactly what effect the might be having on me.

**Bpov**

Oh damn that is some good steak. Really, I kinda couldn't help some of the moans, it was just that damn good, but some of them? I was testing the waters and it looked like he was more than interested in taking a dip in the pool. I was beginning to think that the boy was not as gay as I had thought he was. He might swing both directions, but he was leaning my way more than a little and that was defiantly something I was wanting to explore, even if it was just a mutual walk on the wild side of things for a little while.

What a day. I gotta say I was having a hell of a good time and I am not ready for it to end. We had spent the day just wandering in and out of all kinds of shops and boutiques and had then ended up in the funky vintage shops and resale places that I enjoyed more than the high end places, so I had ended up getting things that looked fancier yet that had suited my personality to a T. He was fun to shop with, and amazingly he hadn't been recognized at all. I think he was a bit disappointed by that, but I was happy not to have to put the smack down on any little bitches who might want to mob rush him or grope him.

We finished up our dinner and sat and just regarded each other for a bit.

"How do you feel about Spanish coffee at Hubers?"

Oh that was a good one. The Spanish coffee at Hubers was world famous for being not only hideously rich, but also so strongly alcoholic that it would leave a lightweight like me faced after half a cup.

"It sounds wonderful, but the problem is, I am a bit of a lightweight and you cant drive, so if we go to Hubers, we are either going to have to stay downtown or we are going to have to leave my truck downtown and come and get it tomorrow. What are you thinking?"

**Jpov**

What am I thinking ? I'm not ready to just go back home and sit around watching tv for the rest of the evening. I've been enjoying her company and its pretty damn obvious she's needed a day and hell, maybe a night out on the town, so why not do it up totally right?

"Why don't we rent a room in a nice place, get cleaned up, and do a night out on the town? Are you up for it? I know I am. I've been sitting around doing pretty much nothing for the past few months and we both don't have anybody expecting us home tonight since Em and the chuckleheads are going to stay at the coast, lets just hang out downtown and party it up. Lets start at Hubers, migrate to Kells and see where things go from there.

Did I break her? She is looking at me like she just full on vapor locked at that suggestion. Maybe it was too much too soon? "Bella? Hello? McFly? Are you in there?"

**Bpov**

Is he serious? Spend the night downtown partying with him? Gay or not, a night out on the town with a cute man and maybe the opportunity to dance? It boggles the mind. Sharing a hotel room damn sure does. Might as well though, who knows? He might have a very early mid-life crisis.

"That sounds like a plan. Are you sure you don't have anything better to do than hang out with the likes of me? I have clothes to change into, but I didn't see you pick up anything today. What are you going to wear out?"

"Oh that's not a problem, there's a store right across the street from here that has everything I need." and that's how I ended up in a bar fight with a transvestite over whether or not a western shirt with a native American headdress on it was racist.

**Jpov**

The night had been a lot of fun. We went back home long enough to get my passport so I had some better I.d. and then we went and got a room at a funky hotel tied to restaurant and venue I was familiar with that was close enough to the downtown area that the cab fare wouldn't be insane, but far enough away that it was sure to be quiet. I also knew they had a great breakfast menu and late checkout time and we weren't likely to be spotted, so we dropped her truck off in the parking lot, changed clothes and headed out to an evening that was sure to be interesting if nothing else, and it was.

The woman is not a drinker in any way shape or form. After one Spanish coffee she was leaning against me and telling me all kinds of things that I was filing away for later. When we headed down the street to Kells she got distracted by another bar that she had heard of that had some kind of "Transvestite review that was all the rage" and supposedly the best dancing in all of Portland. The next thing I knew I was following her down some side street to this place and being drug inside a scene out of, "TooWong Fu" or something like that. I was having 10 different fits hoping like hell I wasn't recognized, and feeling like I was in the land of giants because it felt like I was the only person under 5'10 besides Bella who wasn't wearing stiletto heels. There were all kinds of things going on all around me that were all kinds of different, and Bella felt more than happy to encourage me to check them out while she ordered us both some drinks, which appeared to be a Long Island Iced tea for her and three fingers of whiskey for me, damn good thing because I was needing some liquid courage about the time I felt a meaty paw clamp on my shoulder and a gravely voice growl in my ear, "Don't you know that kind of crap is offensive to our Native brothers, there little man?" oh hell.

**Bpov**

I turn my back on him for FIVE MINUTES and he's in trouble! Really? Can I not take the boy anywhere? I should have known that shirt was going to be a problem in this neck of the woods but, seriously, it was pretty cute on him and who the hell was I to tell him what to buy? It really was a shame when that monster ripped the damn sleeve off of it when Jasper tried to get away. He would have made it if that other jackass hadn't recognized him and gone in to try and get a picture of him in a gay bar. Well, shit, the world needs one less Iphone in it anyway. I didn't know my aim was that good with a shot glass. I'm really gonna have to teach that boy not to lead with his face so much in fights though, he really cannot take too many punches to the nose and expect to stay in acting very long. Drag queens in heels are very susceptible to the SING technique and that got me to him, pulling that goofy shirt up over his head kept them from getting any pictures of him on the way out and yeah…pulling the fire alarm created enough of a commotion to allow me to get him out of sight and out of mind as the cops arrived. Hopefully all there was going to be was a bunch of worked up patrons speculating about who may or may not have been there, and a lot of annoyed cops to sort it all out.

"Shhh! Jasper! Be quiet! I know your nose is bleeding, but if we get up right now the cops are going to spot us and we are going to have to explain why you have a bloody nose so near where they are looking for a guy who was supposedly just in a bar fight. Be still!"

**Jpov**

"Ow! Ow! Mnnn!" Oh my God…is she really squeezing my face to her boobs trying to keep me quiet? She is! Never mind the ground is cold and wet as all fuck under my ass and my bare back and I can only imagine what kind of filth is being ground into my jeans and my hide as she covers me with her body in some weirdly protective stance she has over me, she is squeezing my face into her boobs! The thought only crossed my mind for a split second that I was getting blood on her new shirt and probably ruining it,(maybe I was going a little gay?), then it dawned on me I had face to boob contact! Yes! Okay…nice. She has firm ones for an older chick. I cant really smell anything other than blood, and I think my nose is probably broken again, but niiiiicccee!.

**Bpov**

Okay, I've got to get him the hell out of here and back to the hotel safely and then we can explore why he is nuzzling my boobs and getting a hard on when he is supposedly gay, I would say it was the booze, but he only got to wear the last drink I was buying.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N I think this is what ya'll have been waiting for. Hope it doesn't disappoint. **

Portland cabbies don't rattle easy and that's a good thing. I called the cab company that had dropped us at the downtown area earlier in the night, gave them a location I intended to have him at in about 5 minutes and hung up.

"Okay sugar britches, we have got to get a couple of blocks over by the music store in a few minutes so we can get the hell out of Dodge, are you up for it, the walk I mean?"

Yeah…he was up for something alright, and if he didn't calm his ass down he was going to have a hard time walking to the meeting place.

"Jasper! Focus! We need to get over by Apple music so we can catch the cab out of here, I'm sorry but you are going to lose the rest of the sleeve on that shirt so we can clean you up a little, you look like something out of a horror movie."

He grinned at me like he didn't have a broken nose and two badly blacked eyes along with blood all over his chest and face.

" Have you looked in a mirror yourself? You have my blood all over you. We look like a couple of feral vampires. I don't think this look is going to help me fly below the radar for very long."

Okay, that cracked me up. But still, we needed to get moving and he needed to get his young ass up off the wet ground and headed down the street before we drew the interest of either the local transient population or the cops who were canvassing the area looking for the problem children that had created a ruckus in the middle of their quiet weekday night.

"Hey, hey! Hey Bella!" What the hell was wrong with him? He was still leaking blood and goo and getting a wider and goofier grin the longer he sat there in the mud. If I didn't know any better, I would think the boy had been slipped something.

"Bella! Guess what?" Oh shit. He had to have been slipped something. He's working on getting to his feet, but now he's also working on taking his clothes off, starting with his pants. 'Look at this! Its bedazzled!" I have now decided I am waay too old for this shit, that I hate drag queens, and I am very glad that he isn't too much bigger than me because I'm fixing to have to put him out if he keeps stripping. I call the cab company back and tell them that I need the cab to meet us at a different location, promise the cabbie a fat tip and I begin trying to encourage him to quietly head towards the street corner near a Absinthe bar. He's still trying to show it to me, grinning like a loon and working on kicking off his damn boots. Thank fuck the cab shows up just as he finally manages to kick off a boot. I open the door and shove him in head first, (none too gently), while I retrieve the boot from under the cab, just as a squad car rounds the corner.

Lucky for me he stays in the floorboard as I toss the boot on top of him and tell the cabbie the address of the hotel, thanking him for arriving quickly, and complaining about my date getting beat up after he drank too much and tried to pick up the wrong girl. I hoped that story would provide any cover we might need for the blood and the wreck that was currently laying in the floorboard of the cab still trying to get his pants the rest of the way off. I thanked the Gods of Portland traffic for a quick trip to our hotel room, and luckily we were on the ground floor and the door was slightly hidden behind some bushes from the rest of the entrance.

Tossing waay too much money at the cabby, I got him to angle the door of the cab so all I had to do was drag Jasper backwards out of the cab and directly into the room, past my truck where luckily the cuffs were still laying on the dash, and I could just grab, stuff, and then stuff him into the room where I could get him contained and safely managed for the rest of the night.

"Jasper! Get off the chair like that, you are going to fall and hurt yourself. Yes, I see it. Yes, it is a very nice pecker. I am sure you are very proud of it. Come on down here sugar and lets get your face cleaned up, okay and you can show me your pecker, okay?'

That boy could get naked faster than any man I have ever met. I have no complaints, but really? I'm supposed to just behave myself? I'm willing to be he got ahold of some MDMA because he's rubbing all over me and just Mr. happy with the world in spite of the fact he looks like he lost a fight with Mike Tyson and he smells like the inside of a Metro bus after a hard summers run.

"Come on honey, sit down in the tub and lets clean you up just a little, okay? You are all covered in all kinds of mud and I don't wanna know. Will I what? Tell you what, lets wash your face first and then we will see about that last, okay?"

I'm going to hell. I'm soo going to hell. He's whacked out of his mind on E or whatever he got in that bar and I am getting my jollies off on him so he's easier to deal with. I mean, it made sense, once I washed that part of him…extra thoroughly, he was a lot more relaxed and easier to handle. I didn't mind it and he damn sure didn't it. He's a vocal critter that's for damn sure though, with the dirtiest mouth.

"Okay sweetheart, lets get you tucked into bed, okay? Me? Suuuuree, what ever you want. But, you lay down first okay? That's a good boy. Okay. Yes, I am going to take my boots off. Just give me a minute. I'm going to lock up and make sure that our phones and stuff are plugged in and then I'm going to turn off the light. Yes, I will hug you."

Oh my God. I'm in bed with a naked and hard and very interested Jasper Whitlock. He's high as a kite and all touchy feely and wanting me to be touchy feely too.

"Bella! Feel this!"

Oh. My. Goodness.

"Bella, You wanna do it? I wanna do it soo damn bad with you. Ill make it good, not bad or average, but GOOD! Please?"

Okay…you know those cartoons with the angel and devil? Yeah…well, they are on the same side in this one and its all for getting me laid.

My body is responding in the ways that a woman who hasn't been laid in 10 years would be expected to respond. I want him. I want him soo damn bad. Holy hell! He's already on top of me and humping me like a damn rabbit on speed. 'Ungh! Jasper!" there goes my shirt. How the hell did he do that?

Oh wow! Those fingers. Nice. Fuck it. I'm going with it. We will just have to deal with everything being weird in the morning. If I am just a walk on the wild side for him, we will sort it all out and get life back to normal eventually, and if he's trying to sort himself out, who knows what the hell could happen? I damn sure enjoy his company.

There go my jeans…whoa…wait a minute! Protection! "Jasper! Jasper! Stop! Pull out dammit!' We need a condom!"

**Jpov**

Right before all had gone to shit in that bar, I had been so intent on enjoying myself, I had been more than happy to indulge in the little chemical bravery that was being passed around at the door. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, after all, it had never affected me so strongly in the past. I don't know if it was all the excitement, the adrenaline of the situation or the two Spanish coffees from Hubers finally catching up with me, but weird…I feel weird. My face is all fucked up but I don't really care, I want to touch her soo damn badly. I want to just roll all over her like a lazy dog in a meadow full of soft grass. Nicccceee…she touched it. She touched it a lot. It felt good. Im gonna fuck her. Im gonna fuck her hard. Mmm hmmm. I can hear how good it feels and yeah, so nice and just nice.

**Bpov**

Oh my God. That wiry motherfucker. I couldn't blame him, he was whacked out of his mind on whatever he was on. It was mine. I could have subdued him and hog tied him, but instead I let things get out of hand and oh hell did they ever.

Unprotected sex with a possibly gay or at least bi former rock star ? Yeah…no. I hated that it took decking him to get him stopped, but it hardly slowed him down long enough for me to hunt up his wallet and find a couple of condoms of indeterminate age. I got him wrapped up and the poor addled fool went right back to doing what he was doing as if he hadn't just had his poor bell rung again.

Oh my good lord…so that is what that piercing is for! Oh! Oh! Oh HELLLL YEAH!

I couldn't believe he was up for it again and again and again. Youth. Soo damn wasted on the young. He's remarkably attentive to all the right places for a guy who supposedly is more acquainted with other guys than with a woman's bits and pieces, though I do wish he would give that a rest, its not a panic button, there is no need to keep pushing it and working it over constantly. I wonder if maybe he might enjoy some of what he's used to? One way to find out.

Hmm…welll, I guess that answers the question about whether or not if he's a bottom. I would have pegged him for a power bottom at most, but that reaction seems to indicate he's more of a top kinda fella.

**Jpov**

Yes! Mmm hmm, feels soo good. Don't know why she hit me, but whatever floats her boat, its all good, EXCEPT THAT. No. Just NO! Okay…maybe a little.

She's nice. Its all good. Warm…so warm and soft.

**Bpov**

So he snores. He's a bed hog and he snores. Its early and he's still deeply out. His face is a mess. I should probably make sure he gets to a doctor and gets his nose fixed, but his eyes are swollen nearly shut, he has a cut on his cheek, his lower lip is puffy and he looks like a boxer who lost a match, badly. I've got blood all over my shirt. Luckily for me I have extra shirts in my truck from my shopping trip. I am pretty sure I have something he could wear, so while he is still out of it, I'm going to get us some clean clothes and see if I can get a shower to rinse some of the evidence of our misbehavior off of me.

Sure enough I have a plain black t shirt that will work for him, so I gather up the rest of his clothes and attempt to wipe off the worst of the grunge. His jeans are filthy, he wasn't wearing any drawers, and his socks are still on his feet! Eww.

He's wrapped up in the linens, face down, arms akimbo, buried up under the pillows as if he were trying to hide from everything, which I hoped ia not the case.

I laid the clothes I had gathered up for him on the end of the bed and then taking my own, go into the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water feels amazing on my body that aches in all kinds of places it hadn't ached in decades and I am just standing under the spray allowing it to beat down on me. I hear the door open then him come in, the toilet lid lift and the unmistakable sounds of a man taking a piss. Im vaguely disturbed, but after living with a boy in a one bathroom apartment for many years, I have encountered worse things. Im not expecting what came next when the shower curtain pulled back and a sleepy eyed, tousled headed Jasper steps in behind me, wrapping me in his arms.

"I think I owe you a thank you for rescuing me last night, I also think I owe you the truth. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not gay. I just have some messed up tattoos and a former manager who hated me along with a desire to just hide for awhile."

Huh…I had kinda figured as much after last night.


	16. Chapter 16

"Well, whether or not you are gay or not is not anything I'm currently worried about, but I do think we need to get you to an urgent care so your nose can be set and they can see if you need anything else like a tetanus shot. What the hell was it you took last night, by the way?"

He was washing my hair. Oh. My . Lord. I think I would forgive everything short of murder as long as he kept that up. His fingers were just made of sin, magical, delightful, sin and they were finding all the right spots on my scalp and neck and then oh…further south.

"I'm not sure. I thought it was a hit of E, but I think it had a little extra kick to it because I felt really weird really fast. I'm sorry if things got too crazy."

He didn't even know what the hell he was given? Is he crazy? Does he have no sense of self preservation? He must not because he seems to just not be feeling any pain in his face at all if what he is doing now is any indication.

I have never taken a shower that lasted so long or ended so pleasantly. Showed him a thing or two as well and we were both feeling pretty mellow and satisfied until we finally made it out of the shower and went to picking up our clothes and the rest of the uh…items left over from the night before.

"I put a condom on? Wow, I must have been more with it than I thought." He had found one of them on the floor beside the bed and picked it up. I was grossed out and then horrified, because just as I was about to tell him that the reason he had a bruise on the other side of his jaw, I noticed that the entire end of the condom was missing.

"Jasper, please tell me that thing came apart as you picked it up."

He looked at the floor and then at me, "No, why?" Then he looked at the end of the condom.

"What the hell is wrong with it? I don't understand? Bella…?" He was starting to look awfully pale and shaky so I scooted around the end of the bed and quickly sat his ass down on the end of it.

"Jasper, if you pass out on me you are going to wake up neutered. I need you to answer some questions for me and I need them answered like, yesterday!

First, Just how fucking old were those condoms?" He was staring at the condom, still clutched in his hand,(eww), and said, " I don't know, maybe 6months or a year?" Oh shit.

"Next question, have you ever used I.v. drugs or had unprotected sex before?" He looked at me and blinked. "Bella, I'm not gay." Ooookay the subtext of that response aside telling me more than I needed to know about his social life…so he had taken a walk on the wild side? I didn't care about that, I just wanted to make sure he had worn a condom when he did it. "Jasper, that wasn't what I asked, " I asked you if you had ever had unprotected sex, you can get AIDS and other things from women just as much as men, okay? So just answer the question."

"Uhh, please don't kill me or hurt me?" Fuck. My. Life.

"Okay. Have you ever been tested?" He nodded at me.

"Yes!Been tested many times in fact, I got tested just 6 months ago and I've been good since long before then, so? We are okay then? Awesome!" he thought the worst of it was over? Oh that shit was funny.

"Uh, I wouldn't go taking a victory lap yet. Have you had a vasectomy?"

**Jpov**

Why did she ask that? Why would I need a vasectomy? I'm a young guy, young guys don't need vasectomy's. She's an older chick, there should be no worries, older chicks have that shit handled…don't they? Why is she looking at me like that, like I'm kinda stupid. I'm not stupid.

"What's the deal? Why would I need a vasectomy? You are like, 40 or something aren't you? So its not like there is anything to worry about."

**Bpov**

Really? "Go out with a younger guy, it will be fun! They are all kinds of exciting and interesting and capable of fucking like monkeys." Isn't that what Carlisle had told me? Never mind the fact Carlisle was a gay man who didn't have to worry about things like getting knocked up by one of said young men, never mind the fact that Carlisle was the one who had suggested I go off the birth control pills I had been on for most of my adult life because at my age and with my lack of sexual activity, it would be ,"Safer" to take a break from them and use condoms or other means because of the risk of clots and such.

"I'm 35, thank you very much, and for your information, I have not been fixed and yeah, there is plenty to worry about. Women don't automatically dry up and become infertile when they hit 40, just so you know, I know of more than a couple of women who have had, "Surprise" babies in their 40's and even 50's , do you not watch the news at all?"

Yup, that got rid of any semblance of a smile on his face, in fact the boy looked down right sick and scared, kinda like I felt.

"Oh my God! What do we do?" His hands were shaking and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Look, its nothing to freak out about right now. I will talk to Carlisle when we get back and see what he suggests. It would be amazing if it were anything to really worry about, so just don't say anything to Emmett or anyone else and as soon as I find out what he suggests, I will tell you. We might be freaking out over nothing."

I patted his shoulder, trying to be comforting, but I was freaking out more than a little myself, I had no idea what kind of lifestyle he had lead and I figured it probably wasn't the most healthy or sanitary, so I was going to be talking to Carlisle about all kinds of things, including the potential for mare than a baby as a lasting reminder of this encounter.

**Jpov**

Oh Fuck! Oh Fuck! Oh Fuck! I'm soo fucking dead if I have managed to knock her up. She will kill me, Emmett will kill me, Carlisle will kill me, mama will kill me. I want my mama right now. This would damn sure put a rest to those gay rumors though, and the scandal alone would have my face in the media for months, I might even be able to get some work out of it…hmm, this might not be the most horrible of things on second thought, its not as if she's some rampaging fan girl that would be out parading a kid around like some little purse dog. She's already raised one kid on her own and did a damn good job of it. No need to freak out, its going to be okay either way, so I might as well just let her know its cool, no matter what.

"Bella, it will be okay. No matter what happens I will do right by you. We will figure this out one way or the other, so don't stress, and please, don't kill me? We will just be more careful in the future."

**Bpov **

Say what? Did he just say, "We will be more careful in the future?" as in implying we would be doing this again? I'm not so sure how I feel about that, I mean, yeah, it was pretty damn good. He hadn't been blowing smoke about that when he said he would make it good, but all the drama around getting to the good part was pretty damn wearing, and now this? I think I need to get home and just sleep for a good solid 12 hours and try to not think about all the craziness of the last 24 hours, but first I needed to get his face taken care of and check up on things at home.

"Okay sugar, whatever you say, but we need to get your poor face looked at by some kind of medical professional. Your nose has an angle to it that it didn't have when we left home yesterday, and that laceration on your chin probably could have at least used stitches, last night. So, lets not sweat anything we cant do anything about right this moment, and lets…oh, what are you doing? Jasper! You do realize that there is an 1100 check out on this room? Jasper! Okay, as much as I hate to say this, you gotta stop because we are out of condoms, antique or otherwise, so…Jasssssppppper! You are not helping. Oh…good Lord. I don't really think that is sound reasoning. Really! Oh goodness…badness…whateverness."

What the hell was that all about? If we had dodged the bullet, he was doing his damndest to throw us both in front of a machine gun firing squad. Was he still stoned or something? Why was he so able to persuade me to step up and put on a blindfold right along with him? Did he have a magic pecker? Had I lost my ever loving mind? Am I in the midst of a midlife crisis and is he my little red corvette? Okay, that imagery had me giggling at the wrong time, and he was looking at me all confused, not that he had slowed down what the hell he was doing with his hips. Maybe I am stoned now? Did he slip me something? Okay, I really have to stop with the giggles, the boys feeling are going to get hurt, and really there aint nothing funny about what the hell he is doing, but oddly enough, he sure has a determined look on his poor battered face.

**Jpov**

Damn, whatever I took must still be kicking around in me because I still want to just rub all over her and in her and im not ready for clothes to be on, so what the hell? Might as well make it worth it. Why the hell does she keep giggling? Is what I am doing funny? Wow…I heard that older chicks required a little more finesse, but man, I am going to throw out a hip or something if I work any harder. I thought I did good last night? But dammit! She just giggled again! This shit is not funny! I may be a small guy, but I am not a SMALL guy. I have never gotten any complaints from anyone. I'm gonna wipe that smile right off her face and replace it with bliss in about 5 minutes, even if it kills me.

**Bpov**

I cant believe we almost got charged a late check out fee. How embarrassing. If Emmett hadn't started calling and texting me constantly, we would probably still be there. The boy is like and Energizer bunny of sex, I guess all it takes is the proper motivation of a well timed giggle. I think I have lost my mind by going ahead and screwing around with him when we had no protection, but I got to thinking about what he had said about his recent tests, (yes, I do believe him), and as for the other risk, though I am not a believer in using it if it were more than a day or so after the fact, there are pills for just such events as the one we have encountered, and if Carlisle thought I should take it, I would follow his directions.

**Jpov**

"You did what? Are you insane? What if she gets pregnant? Are you prepared to be a father? Are you prepared to step up and do the right thing? What the hell will your parents think? You did it on purpose, didn't you? Oh my God…Jasper, I swear if you hurt her I will personally neuter you with a dull and rusty scalpel and I know of a couple of people who will be more than happy to help me."

He smacked me in my damn head. Did he not see the bandages on my face? I had just gotten done telling him my nose was broken and how it got that way. What made him think that smacking me in the head was bueno?

"Ouch Unc! Don't hit me in the head, I have a broken nose and all kinds of fucked up shit on my noggin. I'm not going to hurt her. I promise. Don't worry, shes gonna come see you in a bit to make sure we didn't screw up too bad, but if she is knocked up, Ill do right by her, don't worry."

He looked at me with a serious look on his face, "What's your game, Jasper? What are you up to? I swear to God I am this close to calling your mama and telling her to come up here. What the hell did you take? Do you even know? Did they give you a tetanus shot when they set your nose? No? Well you are damn sure going to get one this afternoon, as well as starting the hepatitis series. If you are going to be screwing around and acting like an irresponsible jackass, they least you could do is be safe if you are going to involve my friend in the chaos."

"Oh shit. I hate shots."

"Jasper, I don't care what you hate. You are going to do this, you are going to do it right. No more stupidity. Its time to grow the fuck up just a little."

Wow, a pissed off Unc is no fun at all. I don't think I was going to be sitting down anytime soon after he got done jabbing my ass with needles and taking bites out of it. He agreed to not call my mom, so that was a win, but I felt like I was walking on eggshells around everyone.

**Bpov**

Poor Jasper. I had heard Carlisle clear outside the door when he started in on him. When he came back from Carlisle's office, limping and rubbing his buttcheek, I knew he had not had an easy time of it. He grinned at me ruefully and wandered over to where I was standing by my front door.

"Did he leave any of that cute lil ass to grab onto?" I figured that if I made him blush he would forget he had been poked full of holes and we were both in the dog house.

"Its nice having a doctor as a friend, but sometimes he's as grumpy as a pitbull with a sore tooth." He looked at me and shook his head, "Bella, I gotta tell you something that is probably gonna piss you off at either Carlisle or me or the both of us, but you gotta know. Carlisle is not just a friend of mine, he's also my uncle.

**Jpov**

Okay…she walked into her house and shut the door. What the hell does that mean? Is she getting a weapon? Should I flee for my very life? Fuck.


	17. Chapter 17

**Jpov**

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! What the hell? Why does it sound like a cop is beating my damn door down at uh…1000 in the morning? I haven't talked to anyone since Bella shut the door on me yesterday afternoon, electing to just hole up in my apartment, drink a hell of a lot of beer, smoke a little and sleep away the stress. My face still hurt like hell from my nose getting broken and my ass hurt from the shots dear old Unc had seen fit to inflict on me. Had the rest of the mayhem caught up with me? Were there cameras in the club that caught me? Shit. I did not want to have to explain why some chick had rescued me from a drag queen.

"Hold On! I'm coming!" damn, least they could do is let me get my damn pants on. Most cops didn't appreciate you coming to the door skin to wind, but this guys sounded like he was going to tear the door off the hinges.

"Jesus, Just a min…OUCH!" I didn't even get to open my door the entire way before a giant fist came sailing through and connected with my tender nose. Ending up flat on my ass on my living room floor, I suddenly had a moose on top of me punching me in my head, shaking me and yelling something, but since he had hit me in both of my damn ears, all I could hear was ringing.

My eyes were watering, (I wasn't crying! Really! Dudes do not cry.), my nose was bleeding like crazy, and I think I might have peed just a little, and the moose was in my face yelling something at me and drawing back to punch me again when all of the sudden it was tackled off of me by a shape that managed to successfully stomp both of my balls and my dick on its way across.

"Em! You cant kill him! C'mon, I know you want to, but trust me, it will only make you look bad because its like beating up a chick. It will be okay, we will find her. I promise. She will come back." Find who? Wait, what? Fucking hell… ouch!

"Jasper! Look at me. Pay attention, hey! Don't you pass out. Ed, get me a towel and some ice. Em, where is the note she left? What exactly did it say?"

Okay…Unc is all calm and mellow, he will get shit sorted out.

'Fucking hell! Jasper! Don't you dare pass out! Crap! If you pass out I am going to call an ambulance and then everyone is going to know where the hell you are at, so get your shit together." OUCH!

'Damn Unc! What the hell was that for?" I cant believe he slapped me. Hadn't my face suffered enough?"

'Shut your damn whining up. You are lucky I don't do more than slap you. We have a situation on our hands." No shit we did, moose just tried to fucking kill me for some reason.

"MOM IS GONE! What did you do to her?" Emmet was sitting on the floor by Eddie, looking as if his world had just come unraveled.

"What the hell do you mean she is gone? What makes you think she's gone? Maybe she just took a drive or went to an appointment or something?" He growled at me. I swear to God, the boy growled at me.

"Read this, tell me the impression you get from it, because if you ask me, added together with the face her clothes and her truck are gone, it means she has LEFT!"

He threw the crumpled up letter at me, and I flinched as it flew right at my poor battered face. Carlisle grabbed it and started reading.

" Em, I need you to understand that this isn't because of anything you have done, and that I love you very, very much, but that being said, I have decided that I need to take some of the vacation I have banked up over the last decade and do some serious thinking about my life. Corporate will send by someone to pick up the rents at the first of the month, and if there are any problems there is a number on the office door for the residents to call. I just thought it best to leave so I didn't do or say anything I would end up regretting to people who have been family to us, but who have also been less than honest with me and left me feeling like a fool. You have access to the bank accounts and I expect you will do what you are supposed to do with it. I would have brought you with me, but I know you need stability for your classes, and I also know that Carlisle will make sure you are taken of, after all, it's the least that he and his nephew can do. Ill be back when I have figured out some things, but it may be just to pack us up to move."

Oh shit. Why is everyone looking at me like that?

"Please don't fucking hit me anymore! I am really not feeling very good and if anyone else hits me, it might just be the end of me."

"Oh shut the hell up you melodramatic candy ass! Any idea where she would have gone, Em?" Carlisle was glaring at me like he wanted to jab me with the biggest, dullest, needle he had.

"I thought that maybe she would have headed for Aunt Roses, but when I called her, she said that she hadn't heard from mom at all and calls to moms cell phone just went straight to voice mail. I don't know who else she has! I don't know many of the guys she used to work with when she was a cop, and the one I did know, died last year. There is just no telling where she will end up."

Eddie took this opportunity to finally get involved in the conversation, "Why don't we just call her cell phone company and have them track her, she has one of the newer Iphones, so its got that technology on it, she doesn't even have to know we are doing it."

Ill be damned, the boy could be useful for something. He grabbed up my laptop and sneering at me over the porn that he found on the desktop, he started consulting with Em to get the cell phone data sorted out so they could figure out where the hell she was.

**Bpov**

I was contemplating doing very bad things to people I had been friends with for over a decade. I already had a, "No cause" written up for him, and that was iron clad and unanswerable. I would have his ass evicted and gone from my life in less than 2 months. I could do the same to Carlisle and Eddie, and I was considering it, but it broke my heart. I loved those guys, they were my family. I am so damn hurt and dismayed that they didn't tell me he was Carlisle's nephew. Why on earth would they keep that a secret from me? I just don't understand. Maybe I need a short vacation to give myself some time to think about things. I was going to email my sis and let her know I was coming, but my computer is acting up, guess I downloaded another virus the last time I was watching videos of him. I guess that wont be a problem in the future, now that I know what an asshat he is. Ems computer is handy, I wonder if his password is still the "Emminator"? yup, it is. God bless him, I love my kid, but he's a bit of a douche. What the hell is this? "Momcam"?

I cannot commit infanticide on a kid that is nearly 16, can I? Oh nice, they saved videos? Soo, this is coming with me and he is not. He and Eddie can figure out my computer for his classes. Carlisle is his emergency guardian, so I will let him stay here while I am gone. The apartment will be fine, since we are rented up with no problems, corporate wont bother to send anyone to stay on site because the place pretty much runs itself. I'm owed vacation that they have been bugging me to take for years, so now is the time. I don't even want to look at Carlisle or Jasper right now, I will do something I will regret, so its better I just load up and leave for a while, collect my thoughts, visit with my sister and think things through. I will deal with issues as they come up.

**Jpov**

Okay, so she has taken a runner? What the hell? Was I really that bad? What if she's knocked up? Don't I have any say in any of this?

'Have you guys found her yet? Where the hell is she? She cant just take off like that! "What if she's pregnant?" oh shit…

"WHAT IF SHES WHAT?"

"Eddie! Grab him!"

" Dammit!"

"Get his arm!"

"Ouch, dammit Em! That was my ear you bit!"

" Ouch! Cut it out!"

"Get off his neck! Fuck!"

"ARRRHHHHGGGH! MY DICK! YOU PULLED MY PIERCING YOU FUCKER!"

"Crap! Eddie, call an ambulance. Em, get me another towel and hold it to his face, NOT HARD ENOUGH TO SUFFOCATE HIM! Jasper! Jasper! Fuck, roll him on his side, clear his airway. Eddie, are they on the way? Good. Go out and guide them in. Guys, lets get this straight, he got beat up last night at a bar, came home still messed up got belligerent and when we were trying to help him, he hit his head on the bar." Em, go home now and stay there. You are a minor stay the hell out of sight. I'm his kin, I've got this handled."

**Cpov **

I should have known that wherever Jasper was involved, there was going to be drama. This damn boy had given my sister more than her fair share of gray hairs and stress and I had a feeling there was a lot more to come. He was a good enough kid, and don't get me wrong, he's my kin and I love him to death, but the boy is trouble with a capitol T. I should have know to steer Bella clear of him, but I was hoping that maybe she would be able to smooth him out and settle his ass down a little, but all it seems that happened it that we managed to bring the chaos to her life. She should have come to me before she left, what if she's pregnant? Did she go see someone about the morning after pill? Did she just forget due to all the stress? What the hell is going through her mind? Frankly, I'm worried about her. With the anniversary of Charley's death, all the mayhem that has been going on and then the first date she has had in years and years ending up in a fiasco, she's probably on overload. I don't blame her for wanting to check out for a little bit, but I feel terrible she found out about knucklehead being my nephew the way she did, I should have been straight with her from the beginning and now she's upset and dealing with a bunch of unknowns on her own. I just hope we can track her down and apologize enough.

Oh good, the ambulance is here. Jasper looks like hammered shit and most likely has a pretty bad concussion and a broken nose. I don't know about him going back into acting with his face as messed up as it is right now. God help us if this jackass has managed to reproduce, the poor kid wouldn't stand a chance unless Bella ran things from the get go.

"Yeah guys, he's over here. He's unconscious but breathing on his own. Yeah, I'm a relative and I have his information, I'm also a doctor. Yeah, transport him to OHSU would you, I'm on staff. We need to keep his identity quiet. Yes, blunt force trauma to the frontal and parietal region of his skull. His piercing is intact but is slightly torn so he's going to be in some pain when he wakes up, so lets get some I.v.s; going and some pain meds flowing as well."

Oh this is going to be fun. Eddie has things handled at the home front as I help load my knuckleheaded nephew in the ambulance. Emmett is a wreck, Bella is missing, Jasper is a mess that most likely needs a couple of days in the hospital to sort him out, and I am just worn out from trying to keep up with all of it. As we finish cutting his clothes off, I have to sigh when I see the tattoo on his hip, "Lost", damn right buddy boy, damn right. And you better get busy finding yourself because my friend is wandering off down the same damn path thanks to you.

"Give me that 14 gauge you got stashed there in the back, he's got big veins, and he's a little dehydrated, he can handle it."

**Jpov**

What the hell? Ouch! Where the hell am I? What the hell is going on?

"Oh Mr Hale, you are awake. Good. Your Uncle will want to be called. You are in the hospital. You sustained a pretty good concussion and you had some lacerations on your scalp we had to stitch up, that is why your hair is gone, Your uncle said to just go ahead and shave it all so it would grow back even." Im going to kill Carlisle. What the hell! At least he booked me in under a psuedonym so I had some privacy, but DAMN! All my hair?

"Oh yes, you don't want to go tugging on things down there soo much sir, you had to have some stitches to repair the small rip from your piercing, but the good news is that they did manage to save the piercing and you will only have tiny little scar with no loss of function. Unfortunately your nipple piercing was a total loss. You have a couple of stitches there as well. I must say sir, whomever you tangled with must have been really angry with you, because they quite a bit of damage." No shit Sherlock. Glad she doesn't know it was an upset 15 year old the size of a moose. Speaking of, wonder what the hell is going on with them?

'Excuse me Miss, what day is it?" doing my level best to be charming.

"Oh, its Monday, now you sit tight here and I will go call your Uncle. Do you need anything?" She finished fussing around me and headed for the door.

"No, I'm good for now" just to find out where the last 4 days went.

**Bpov**

The heat. That dry smack in the face was welcoming after so many years of the cool damp of the Northwest. I had rarely been back, mostly for funerals and once or twice to visit with this old friend who had always been my port in a storm. Emmett didn't know him and never would even though he had been his fathers best friend, the one who had been there for us, for me, in those first few months after Charley had died. In any other circumstance we might have made a go of it, but a romance born of trauma and pain is doomed from the start, and then later on he found Sue and they built something that I wasn't going to destroy because she was my friend as well.

They didn't know why I was coming, just that I was for a few days on my way to somewhere else. Wandering around my old town, seeing old friends and contemplating a life I had walked away from was good for me. It put things into perspective. Billy and Sue had a way of providing the kick in the pants I needed to see clearly.

"Bella! Holy hell woman! Could you raise that damn truck up any higher?" Good Lord he hadn't changed a bit. Looked the same, and acted the same dragging me out of the truck before I could even get the truck shut all the way off. It felt good to be hugged, and then Sue was hugging me, telling me how much they had missed me. I had missed them so much too.

We sat up for hours, talking well into the night about our lives and what was going on. I didn't tell them everything, but Billy's not a stupid man. He's well aware I don't just take off and leave Emmett on his own for no reason.

"Teen boys do stupid things. They think they are protecting their moms, or being men and sometimes they forget they have the bodies of men and the minds of children still."

"Billy, I'm not mad at him really, I just need to get some space and take a breather. Some things went on that really hurt me and if I had stayed there, people I cared about were going to get hurt, and rather than do that, I thought it best to just take a vacation. He's in good hands, with people looking after him, and he's working on his classes so he gets college credit for them, I cant go dragging him around and risk that getting disrupted.

When we finally called it a night, I went off to the spare bedroom to try and sleep and not think about the mess in my life. I looked at the prepaid cell phone I had picked up before I had left town and debated calling Emmett to let him know I was okay, but it was very late and most likely he was asleep. I hoped he remembered he had a dentist appointment on Monday, and that was what broke me. I decided to call Eddie, because out of all of them, he was the most likely to be innocent of any major fuckery.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Eddie, its Bella, I need you to remind Em that he has a dentist appointment on Monday at 11 okay?"

"Bella! Where the hell are you? Do you know everyone is freaking the hell out? Em put Jasper in the hospital! It was pretty awesome, you really should have been there. Even ripped that pecker ring you were so fond of. Carlisle is there with him now, he's been in since the morning after you left. Way to make an exit!" He giggled. How could he giggle? That was not funny!

"Eddie! How bad is he? Is Em okay? Did he get in trouble?"

"Em is fine. He feels pretty bad about how badly he fucked Jasper up, but see? I told him it would be like fighting a girl but nobody listens to me! Jasper has a concussion. They shaved his head. SOO not a good look for him, he looks like a Chihuahua, and they managed to stitch up his pecker piercing and save that, but his nipple piercing is a goner. His nose is seriously fucked up, so I see character actor in his future. He's getting released today. He seriously freaked out when he found out you took off. He spilled the beans in front of Em about being worried you might be knocked up. REALLY? You did the nastly with our lil wandering rock star without a full body condom? You like living on the edge, don't you? AANYhoo, Em went ballistic and went caveman on Jasper. My ear got bitten in that whole fiasco, but nobody cares about that."

He freaked out? I wonder why. Well, I wasn't going to worry about that right now, I wanted to make sure my son was okay and not in any trouble and then I was going to continue on with my plans.

"Eddie, is Jasper going to press charges against Em?"

"Oh no, don't worry about that. We told the doctors that he came home from a night on the town still high and beat up, went into his apartment and started drinking, that was true fax by the way, and when we tried to check on him, he got belligerent and tried to fight us. In the midst of trying to hold him down, he got slammed into the bar and smacked his head. Jasper is good with the story. Em wasn't even in the apartment when the ambulance arrived, but he's been staying with us since you left, he says that home is too quiet, so we are going to just lock your place up really well and keep him with us until you get back, or he may move in with Jasper. They kissed and made up this morning. Are you still mad at us? Carlisle is soo upset and mopey, I cant get any loving. Would you please forgive him? Please? I cant go without for soo long. I didn't do anything to deserve punishment, but if you forgive him, Ill punish him for you."

He followed that up with one of his giggles and I had to laugh in spite of everything.

"Yes Eddie, I will text him here in just a little bit and let him know he is forgiven, and you can punish him for me all you want." I shuddered just a little, I didn't even want that mental picture in my head, yet there it was.

"I still love you guys, all of you, I just need to do some thinking for a while. Ill check in with you from time to time, okay? Ill be back. Tell my son I love him and not to brutalize Jasper too much."

"Okay Bella, you be safe out there and have fun. We will take care of your men."

"My men" What the hell did he mean by, "My men"? I only had my boy, that other pain in my ass wasn't mine, I don't think I even wanted him as a rental.


	18. Chapter 18

**Jpov**

With her gone, things sucked. My hair looked like hell and I was going to have a weird scar on my chin thanks to Ems flying fist. I wasn't too mad at him about that, and to tell the truth I was glad to have him around. We spent a lot of time working on his ratty old truck, racking up his driving hours and working on his guitar lessons while we waited to hear from her.

She didn't call.

Weeks and weeks went by.

Eddie got emails and he would give us updates, and she wrote Em a letter telling him how much she loved him and missed him and she even signed off on permission for him to take his driving test, but no calls.

After two months I realized I missed her pretty damn badly and I was as worried as the rest of them.

Eddie, (the fucker), knew something. He wouldn't talk though. He just walked around humming and grinning like he had some big secret. Even Carlisle was annoyed with him.

Bella's vacation was due to run out in a couple of weeks and she was going to have to come back or quit. Nobody wanted her to quit. All the residents had sent a letter of support for her to the corporate office and that had resulted in a letter back to all the residents letting us know that she was not being replaced, that she was simply on vacation for an extended period. While that was comforting to everybody else, I wanted her ass home.

I had spent my time pretty damn wisely I thought, I got my tattoos fixed with Unc's help and decided that nipple rings weren't happening ever again. My pecker piercing was healed up and raring to go, but with only my right hand for company, it was pretty disappointed.

Em had been staying with me most of the time. That was weird at first and I was pretty damn nervous he was going to snap again and just eat me, but he seemed to just want a buddy to talk to. He wasn't a bad roommate, in fact he was a decent cook and he didn't steal my clothes, so I guess I couldn't complain.

"Hey Em, you wanna go get a pizza downtown?" I'm starving and he's finally street legal to drive, so I can have a beer with my food. I'm also getting stir crazy and want out of the apartment.

"Dude! Are you crazy? It's a week before Christmas and downtown is like crazy land. I don't want anywhere near there. How about we go get some Mexican?"

Oh hell NO! Last time I fed Em Mexican, I thought I was going to have to leave the complex. It was not a healthy mix. "Dude, I am not that insane. I still haven't grown back all my hair from where you scorched it off the last time."

"How about steak? That really sounds good and Aunt Rose sent me a nice check, so it could even be my treat if you are being a cheap bastard again."

That sounded safe and reasonable. "How about we see if Unc and Eddie want to go?" He was already on his phone.

"Yeah. I was thinking Ruths. I KNOW. Yes. I have the money Carlisle. Consider it my Christmas present to you guys. Don't be such a buzz kill dude. Are we making 2 or 4 reservations? Okay! Cool! See you guys in a bit. Hey! Tell Eddie not to wear his blue shirt, I'm wearing mine and I don't want to match again, that was just too fucking awkward and he didn't help things by calling me, "Baby" the whole damn time, that chick at Gerrys still asks about my "boyfriend". Dude! It was NOT funny. Okay, Ill text you the reservation time and we will pick you up. Aw, come on Carlisle, let me drive! Please? Okay…but, I want to take you guys for a ride later this week and show you how good I am doing. I DID pass the test you know, I do have my license. What? No, what did you say? Whatever dude. Okay, see you in a bit."

"Yeah, they'll go with. You wanna make the reservations?"

I got that done while he went home and started getting ready. We had all become homebodies with Bella gone, and we hadn't even really done anything for the holidays. Carlisle and Eddie had cooked a half-assed Thanksgiving that was more for Em than anyone else, and that was a good thing because he had eaten most of it. They had put up the saddest, most pathetic excuse for a Christmas tree that I had ever seen, and even more sad and pathetic there really wasn't anything under it but a few envelopes. None of us were feeling it. We needed her to come home, and I wanted to find out what the hell was going on with her. I didn't appreciate the silence since she had vanished. If she was knocked up, I wanted to know. I could use that kind of news. Id managed to hire a new agent that had some great ideas for getting me into some edgier roles, but as progressive as Hollywood pretended to be, if you were thought to be gay by mainstream America, you still couldn't hardly get cast as a hero type or as a leading man and that was just the way it was. I needed to put those rumors to rest and until I knew what was up with her, I was stuck because I damn sure didn't want to have more than one going at once, I might have some resources, but I'm not wanting to support kids all over the place. I did care about her and Em too, but my career was my ticket to the top and to proving those that dumped me, just how badly they fucked up.

**Bpov**

"Sis, you are gonna have to take your ass back home pretty soon ya know. That boy of yours needs his momma, and you aren't going to be able to hide your condition for much longer, so you are either going to have to make a decision about what you are going to do about it, or you are going to have to go back and make that fella aware of the situation and see if he's going to be a man about it, or if he's gonna cut and run before Em kills him."

Leave it to my sister to insist on spoiling a perfectly nice lunch at my favorite bar b cue place. In her defense, she hadn't said much other than, "Nice! Finally someone else gets to be the family scandal." Ever since she had eloped with a much older man who happened to be a Yankee, she had been treated as the black sheep of our very, Southern, and very Texan family, and though they had all grown to love and accept her husband, she was still looked at as the family ne'er do well. It looked like my situation, if I allowed it to come to light, would far out scandal her scandal hers.

She had drug me to her doctor not long after I had shown up on her doorstep, insisting on me getting a going over the likes of which I hadn't had in years, and while I was happy to find out that the gallon of blood they pulled from me over the next few weeks all came back clean, and the physical exam showed me to be fairly healthy with the exception of a slightly elevated blood pressure,(gee, wonder why?), but…and this was a big but, I was pregnant. Since the blood test had come back with an extremely high HCG level for the gestational age of the pregnancy, the doc had ordered an ultrasound an had discovered that I wasn't just carrying one, I was carrying triplets! How the hell does something like that even happen without fertility drugs? I know I damn sure wasn't on them. There were some twins in my family a ways back, but nothing in a generation or two, and as for him, I had no idea. I had told Eddie, who oddly enough had become the only person I really communicated with about my feelings over Jasper anymore. He had been shockingly realistic and pragmatic about my situation.

"Bella, while I want to say that is wonderful news and be all happy for you, I know from being with Carlisle for as long as I have, that pregnancy on a woman your age is not easy and multiples is really high risk for both you and the babies, is this something you have thought about?"

I told him I was currently thinking about it quite a bit, and since it was only 10 weeks in, there was still time to make decisions and still much that really wasn't certain. My age made things uncertain in many ways, except for horrendous morning sickness, that was pretty damn certain. I told him I was going to be headed back and that I would arrive by Christmas, but that I didn't want anyone to know in case I changed my mind, and there I was a week before Christmas, sitting in a restaurant with my sis in my hometown, still trying to decide what to do.

"Does Marcus still want to buy my truck?" She smirked at me as if I had asked the dumbest question in the world, her husband had lusted after my truck ever since he had seen it when Em and I had driven down for their after wedding party. He had offered a ridiculous amount of money then, and though I wasn't hurting for money, especially since I had banked most of the life insurance from Charley and we had always lived frugally, I didn't want to drive back with the Winter firmly in place in the pass, and if I did decide to go though with the pregnancy, I wasn't going to be clambering in and out of a monster truck. With what Marcus had offered me for my baby, I could not only fly home in comfort, I could also go pay cash for a newer car that would be a hell of a gift to surprise Em with.

"Okay, he has to throw a plane ticket back to Portland into the deal and Ill sell it to him. I'm going to use the money off of it to buy Em a Christmas present he will never forget and then I am going to trade in that beast of his on a nice safe economy car for me, so tell him to not try and short change me because its for your favorite nephew as well."

"Well, depending on what all you decide, that may not be changing, so I will make sure. But, tell me something, If you do decide to go through with this little fiasco, and that fella cuts and runs, are you gonna try and raise them all up there by yourself? You know we would love to have you closer to home and I would be happy to help you with them."

She had never been able to have her own kids, and that was the whole unfairness of this situation. My sis loved kids. Volunteered with several children's welfare organizations and had even gotten approved to adopt, but after having a prospective baby yanked away from them once too often by either a birth mom who changed her mind, or a social service agency that decided that the abusers needed one more chance to try and kill the poor child, her and her husband had withdrawn themselves from the process because they couldn't stand the pain.

"Sis, I will think about it, I promise. You do know that the road goes both ways and you guys could move to Oregon. I know you would love it up there."

"Oh hell, no! I'm Texas born and a Texan ill die, that's just the way it is, but I'm telling you, being around family can be a good thing when you are in a tough spot. You could even bring them gay boys of yours, the hospital here could use a good doctor and I the way Em talks about them, I know they would be family in no time. I even have the perfect house I would cut them a smoking deal on out at the lake."

A few days later I was hugging her goodbye as I got ready to board my flight back home. No one knew I was coming, and I had no intention of giving them a heads up. I wanted to just slip in quietly and keep things between myself and Eddie until I could talk to my local doctor about my situation and get more of an idea about what I was dealing with and what kind of decisions were going to need to be made. I had an appointment scheduled with a specialized high risk OB clinic that my regular doc had been able to get me scheduled into as soon as I had called and let them know of my situation. The doc in Texas had already sent my records to them, so they were just waiting for me to arrive.

**Eddie I'm arriving PDX 2 hrs, can you pick me up at airport?**

**BELLA! YOU KNOW IT! JUST SEND ME GATE INFO!**

**Come alone okay? I haven't told anyone else I'm coming home. **

**OH GOODY! IT WILL BE A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!**

**o_o Eddie, its not too late for me to turn around. Im in L.A. right now.**

**SPOIL SPORT. ILL SEE YOU IN A COUPLE HOURS. **

"Well hello Dolly! It really is good to see you again!"

Leave it to Ed to draw attention to the one really noticeable side effect of my pregnancy. It might be early on, but the hormones had really done a number on my boobs, and I had already had to buy new bras and shirts.

"Bella, honey, I'm a very gay man, very, very, gay, and I am telling you, THOSE are really attention getting." After he had swooped me up into a hug as I had walked down the jet way, he had just stared at my chest for a good 30 seconds.

"Stop staring at them you perv!" I smacked him on the arm as we headed to the baggage claim.

"No, seriously Bella, I may have to rethink the whole Gay thing after seeing those. I mean, Carlisle is great, and he has a really nice ass, but your breasts are amazing, I wonder if Carlisle could get implants? Do those feel real?"

He looks at me like he expects me to know. "Ed?"

"Yes, Bella?"

'Will you please quit trying to make me picture Carlisle with boobs? My morning sickness has been hitting all day long and unless you want me to barf all over you, you will stop."

"Bella, I've missed you. We all have."

"Ed, I've missed you guys too. Tell me, have you ever thought of moving to Texas?"

"Would I get a cute accent like yours?"

"What accent? I don't have an accent."

"ohh Maybe Carlisle's British accent would come back! That is what attracted me to him in the first place, he was teaching the biology section I was taking, and I needed suddenly found I needed tutoring help with all kinds of stuff."

Okay, that was just TMI. "Ed, remember when I told you sometimes you were getting too close to sharing too much? This is one of those times."

He insisted on carrying the luggage that I had checked, and considering how tired I was, I allowed it. Marcus had generously paid all the fees and everything for my ticket since I had shown him all the secret tricks and even the spare performance chip that I had for my truck that increased the horsepower capabilities back to that of its patrol days, as well as the hidden locking compartments for weaponry or whatever you happened to feel like stashing. He was happy, my sis was happy and my son was going to be in heaven when I took him car shopping tomorrow beyond that, I knew I was going to be facing a lot of questions and stress that I really didn't want to be dealing with my first night back.

"Ed, can you do me a favor? Can you get Em to come home and keep Jasper away from me for at least the next day or two? We will all do Christmas together, but I want to take my son car shopping and spend some time talking to him about things without dealing with someone else in the middle of it all."

"Oh sure, Not a problem! I will take him out drinking or something, by the time he staggers in he wont know who is around. Can Carlisle and I come over tomorrow though?"

"You know it. I will text you when we get back, if you don't happen to hear Emmett first."

We pulled into the parking lot and I notice that Jaspers car was not around, I count that as a good thing as Eddie carried my bags into my apartment. Its pretty damn clear that Em hasn't been living here, but that's probably a good thing.

"Ed, I've got it from here. Thanks for the help, you are a truly good friend to me and my son."

"And don't you forget it woman! Get some rest. I'm going to go drag out your other problem child, and send Em home."

He gave me another hug and then staring at my breasts again said, 'Wow! Just…wow!"

I didn't have long before the door came slamming open and I was grabbed up by my son who as big as he may get, still cries like a baby when he knows his mom has been upset.

"I've missed you so much! I'm soo sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I was just trying to help you, we all were. We were jerks. We know it! Please, im sorry!"

"Em, I'm sorry. Its okay. Sweetie! Calm down. I didn't leave to punish you. I left because I needed to think about a bunch of stuff. I'm sorry sweetheart. I love you soo damn much. Don't cry honey."

He was crushing me in a hug as he cried and snotted on me, and as I rubbed his back I realized he had grown even taller and broader, about the same time he seemed to realize I had undergone some structural changes as well.

"Uh, mom? Is there something you need to tell me?"

"Honey, I sold my truck to Uncle Marcus and with the money I got for it, I am taking you to buy your first vehicle tomorrow. Do you happen to have an idea of what you would like?"

"Uh what? You did WHAT? How could you do that? You love that truck as much as you love me!"

"That's not true. I love you more. That truck was just a material thing. I've been wanting to get you a new vehicle and now that you have your license, and its time to get you something that is more reliable and fitting of a young man. I'm just going to set a few guidelines. No sports cars, and it has to have good fuel economy."

"Wow mom, for real? I really do get a new car?"

"Yeah Em, you really do. The only downside for you is that I will need your truck. I'm going to trade it in on something for me once we get you situated. Do you have any idea what you want so we know where to start tomorrow?"

"Holy hell! We are going tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I was planning on letting you pick it up tomorrow. I have the cash to pay for it as long as you don't get too crazy."

" Oh my God! Wow! Mom, I love you soo damn much! But I gotta tell you, if you think this is going to stop me from beating Jaspers ass for getting you pregnant, you are wrong."


	19. Chapter 19

**Jpov**

A boys night out? I guess I needed that. I hated to leave Em to his own devices, but when Ed said that Em had been slacking off on his schoolwork and actually needed to be left home to work on an important project, I no longer had a good excuse to stay home. So that was how I found myself in a cab with Ed, headed to God knows where with a pretty flamboyant gay man who had God know sure enjoyed teasing me about my tattoo problem that had taken quite a bit of work to get corrected.

"Ed, not to be picky, but where the hell are we going?"

He grins at me with one of those sneaky grins of his that leaves me worried that I may wake up naked in an alley somewhere with more tattoos in places I don't even want to contemplate.

"Don't look so nervous. I'm taking you to Dante's. it's a mixed place that even has strippers. There is a band playing tonight that I like so I thought we could go get your drink on and I could enjoy some decent music and maybe dance a little. Carlisle is coming over after he gets off shift, so we will have some fun and just blow off some steam."

That sounded pretty harmless, with Carlisle around I knew he would keep things from getting too crazy, and I damn sure had no intentions of doing anything other than a little liquid indulgence. After the last fiasco, I had stayed the hell away from most of the other means of changing my attitude, I didn't need anymore problems.

**Bpov**

Oh this was not good. Ems doing that huffing thing where he looks like and angry bull and his face is red. "Triplets? What do you mean, triplets? How are you going to carry triplets? MOM! What are you going to do?"

"Em, I haven't decided yet. I still have a few weeks to make a decision if I am going to go through with the pregnancy at all."

Oh…Oh no. He didn't like hearing that.

"What do you mean? Mom! You cant do anything to them! They didn't ask for this. Please mom? Please? Don't do that. I mean, if you are in danger that's one thing, but just because Jasper is an asshole, please, I will help. Don't. I know you. It will bug you forever. It will bug me forever. Okay?"

Tears? I didn't expect that from him. Well, I guess that settles that.

"Okay Em. Okay. I wont do that. Unless the doc says its going to be too much for me, I will leave things alone."

"Oh! Don't hug me so tight! You are going to squeeze them out of me."

"Do you know what they are yet? Am I have brothers or sisters or what?"

"Em, I have no idea. I just barely found out there are three of them. I have an appointment with a specialist this next week and they are going to do a whole bunch of tests to find how if they are all healthy and I should know after that what they are. Its going to be a rough ride, I'm not going to kid you about that. I'm going to need a lot of help. Your aunt wants us to move to Texas to be close to family and I have really been considering it. I have even asked Eddie if him and Carlisle would be willing to move with us."

**Empov**

Triplets? What the hell? My mom cant be having triplets at her age! I cant go from being an only child to being the big brother to three! What the hell? Now we are going to have to move? What if Ed and Carlisle don't want to move to Texas with us? I cant leave them, they have been my dads and my big brothers all rolled into one. I'm going to beat him down just to make myself feel better. I like the dude, but seriously, I think he's got some angle he's working. I just get that vibe. He's not what my mom needs. He's been out quite a bit trying to manwhore around, not that its done him much good, the dude still just gives off that gay vibe really strong and the whole time I was keeping an eye on him while mom was gone, he just seemed to really not give a damn. Triplets? He has soo fucked up my life! Its only fair I get to fuck him up just a little. Mom will deal, after I get my new ride, homie is getting a smack down.

'Mom, I was really thinking I would like another truck, do you think that's doable?"

"Em, I don't see why not. We will go look at them first thing in the morning and get you what you want."

**Bpov**

It was good to be home with my son. I knew he was pissed and upset about our lives getting so turned upside down, he was blaming Jasper, but it had been a dual effort and while I was worried about what Jaspers reaction was going to be to finding out about the pregnancy, let alone it being triplets, I didn't think he needed to be thrashed on constantly. If he didn't want to be involved, then he wouldn't have to be involved. I hadn't even decided what I was going to do, my sister had gotten me to thinking and raising them around my family back home would give her a chance to be the mom she had never gotten to be, even if it was to my kids.

**Epov**

Okay, seriously! I did not know it was HIS former band that was playing tonight! What a drama queen. He's going to get arrested if he keeps on, I don't care how drunk he thinks he is, no one gets away with making that much of an ass of themselves and the bouncers here are HUGE. I may have come with him, but I don't have to leave with him and I am damn sure not hanging out with him. By the time he slammed his 5th shot of whiskey I saw the writing on the wall with that little looming disaster and slid over to the other side of the room to watch the fun. Oh yeah, I texted Carlisle and told him he needed to hurry his ass up, but he KNOWS what a problem his nephew is. Oh fuck! Noo, do not sell that dumbass a beer bottle. Uh oh! Oh this is soo not good. He's yelling something. "You suck, you faggots?" Oh NO YOU DIDN'T!

**Cpov**

Really? Did I have to work all day long dealing with all kinds of mayhem and sickness just to walk into the bar in time to see my boyfriend, the love of my life, jump on my nephew and begin pummeling the crap out of him? Why? I imagine he probably deserves it, knowing Jasper, but couldn't we just have one sane night out? Oh dammit! I hear the cops coming. Time to rescue who I can and get the hell out of dodge.

"Hurry, we have got to get gone now. Keep your face down and your mouth shut, ill fix your face once we are out of here. Don't worry about him, im sure he will be fine."

Yeah, I left Jasper. Sue me. I didn't even bother to ask who started it. I saw who was on stage and I got a pretty good idea about what had gone on, let the bouncers deal with him. Ill bail him out in a day or two.

**Jpov**

Ouch! Why always my face? What did I do this time? I don't even know what the hell happened. One minute im giving those punks a little bit of a hard time and the next thing I know Im on my back with somebody beating my face in and then the cops show up and threaten to haul me in for fighting. I didn't fight anyone! I got my ass kicked! For once the whole gay thing worked out for me because the cop that showed up was for sure batting for the home team and he was way into me. I might have flirted…a little, but hey! It kept my ass out of handcuffs.

Where the hell did Ed disappear to? He left my ass! Fuck! Where the hell is my wallet?

**Epov**

"Faggot?" really! Well, this "Faggot" got his wallet and let him figure out how to get his sorry, drunken, ass home. I don't care if he managed to get a shot in and bloody my nose. He is damn lucky Carlisle showed up when he did. How dare he? What a punk ass. I'm soo damn mad at him right now.

**Cpov**

Oh boy. Jasper really has stepped in it now. Eddie is a firm believer in that anyone that says that word, believes that word and will use other words just as hurtful and hateful. My dumbass nephew seems to be really doing a great job at pissing off the people around him, and it looks like things aren't changing at all. Bella is going to be back soon, she has to be, and I think I'm going to talk to her about booting him. Maybe I should call sis and have her come get him. I don't care if he thinks he's grown, he's a knucklehead and he needs to grow up before he takes one too many shots to the head.

'Eddie, honey, let me see. Is it still bleeding?" I swear, he may act like a goof half the damn time, but he has the heart of a lion and a wonderful soul. I would be lost without him. I would do just about anything for him and if Jasper has broken his cute little nose, I swear, I will leave him to rot.

"Oh sweetie, I don't think its broken. Noo, I totally understand and agree with you, he is a punk ass. No, im not going to rescue him this time. She's what? Eddie…What? Oh my God. Triplets? Why didn't she tell me? No, I understand shes still pissed at me."

Oh my God. I have to make this right. I have to fix this tonight. She needs me more than ever and I have been a terrible friend.

**Bpov**

Who the hell is at my door at midnight? I swear I just get home and get settled and already the tenants are after me?

Oh, its him. What the hell is wrong with Eds face? Crap! I'm willing to be this has something to do with Jasper. They aren't going to leave, so I guess I better let them in.

"Eddie! What the hell happened to your face? Oh my God! Carlisle, both of you get in here before you let all of the heat out. EM! We have company."

The way he comes stomping into the room I knew he thought it was Jasper and that was almost funny, until he saw Eds face.

"Dude! What the hell?"

"Jasper hit me!" Oh no. Oh no no no no. Was Ed trying to get Jasper pulverized?

"What the fuck did he hit you for?" Ems face is already red and hes cracking his knuckles.

"I didn't like him yelling "Faggot" at the club we were at." Yup…my babies are going to be fatherless.

'Where the fuck is he?" Em is looking for his shoes as Ed gingerly touches his nose, and winces, playing it up for him.

"We don't know. We left him down at the bar to sort himself out and get himself home. He was really drunk and obnoxious so he might have gotten arrested or something."

Carlisle just shrugged.

"Bella, I really don't know and im really not concerned about him at this point. I came here tonight so we could talk. I need to apologize to you. I have been a terrible friend. I want to make things right between us and I promise you, if you will forgive me, I will never, ever deceive you again. I was an ass and I don't know why I went along with them. You deserved better from me as your friend. Please forgive me, please let me be a part of your life again and please, for Gods sake let me help you with this pregnancy?"

I might have been able to resist him if he hadn't been down on one knee and if his British accent hadn't started showing. When it comes to that, I have no defense.

"Carlisle, you out of all of them, hurt me the most. But if you honestly mean it, I will give you another chance. I have to tell you though, I am looking at making some major changes in the next few months and I would really like you guys, since you have been my family, to be a part of them."

Ooof! I have never been a big fan of the group hug, but I guess some exceptions can be made for these guys.

**Cpov**

Oh boy. When Eddie told me she was pregnant with not just one baby, but with THREE? I thought I was going to have a heart attack. My sis is going to kill my nephew and then she is going to have her own heart attack. Triplets. Bella is at high risk for soo many things that I cant even begin to list them all off to her without stressing us all out. She tells me she has an appointment with one of the best high risk neonateologists in the city and that helps to calm me a little, and she also says that she's planning on trying to carry all of them to term? Holy Hell. Jasper is really in for it now. I want to be front row and center for when he gets that bit of news. I have a feeling that Em is just aching to deliver it via his fist to Jaspers face.

"Ed, its time to let them get some rest. Bella, if you need a ride to any of the car lots tomorrow, we would be happy to drive you guys around."

"That sounds great Carlisle, we were heading out pretty early so if you are sure?"

"Yeah, I'm off for the next few days so I don't mind and I know Ed would love to get out and spend some time car shopping with Em."

Well, that was an adventure I don't ever want to repeat. Car shopping with a teen boy? A special kind of hell. Try telling car dealers you are paying cash and they still try to screw you over. I was glad I had Carlisle and Eddie along because they were able to cut through most of the bs and we managed to get the whole deal done before dinnertime. Em was ridiculously proud of his ½ ton 4 wheel drive extended cab baby. I didn't quite grasp the color, White? I would have expected him to go with red or black, but he could be a pretty odd kid at times and I wasn't going to argue. It was his truck and his choice. Him choosing an extended cab also surprised me, but then I knew he was being thoughtful. Looking at the grin on his face as he and Eddie followed behind me and Carlisle, I knew he was in heaven.

**Jpov**

What a fucking miserable night. What the hell kind of public transportation system quits running at midnight? No damned cabs would pick me up because for some reason a bloody guy calling from a payphone seems kinda suspicious to them. I'm half fucking frozen, my cell phone is missing along with my wallet and my face is all fucked up all over again and some damn bum kept following after me all night long so I couldn't even find a place to hole up and nap. I walked. I walked all damn night long until I finally noticed the trains were moving again. Im almost to the closest stop to our place and the damn cops ask for my ticket. Fuck me. So now I have a ticket for riding without paying my fare, and I almost got to go to jail for getting robbed? This town officially sucks. I'm ready to tell unc and the rest of them to kiss my ass, im going back to L.A.. At least I have my house keys for when I do finally get home.

**Bpov**

Who the hell is that walking along the side of the road? Oh my God! That was Jasper!

"Carlisle! Stop! That was Jasper, walking back there."

"Bella, walking will do him some good. Im really in no mood to put up with my jackass nephew right now."

"No! Carlisle, you don't understand! Em has spotted him and he's pulling over! Oh hell! Turn around! Hurry!"

"Em! NO!" Oh shit. "Jasper RUN! RUN NOW!"

**Jpov**

Hey, that was Carlisle and it looked like Bella with him? Why the hell didn't he stop for me? Oh wait, is that Em, in a new truck? Awesome! "Hey bro! whats up!" Wait…what? Why is Bella yelling at me to run? I cant run. I'm fucking tired. Oh wait, yes I can.

**Epov**

Oh this is great! Who the hell knew Jasper could run that damn fast? I don't think Jasper knew he could run that fast. Uh oh! Ems gaining on him. I don't think shrieking like a girl is helping him to run any faster but its damn sure making it all kinds of funnier. Oh hell! He threw a boot? That's going to slow him down. Ems gonna get in soo much trouble for ignoring Bella, but seriously, I don't think hes taking her too seriously with her laughing so hard. Oh, there went the other boot. Does Jasper really think Bella is going to be able to protect him? Yeah, didn't think so. I wonder what this button does?

"Oh hello onstar! No, I don't need any help, Im just watching my friend chase an idiot up the street so he can beat his ass. No, he doesn't need any help either, hes a lot bigger than the idiot, so its going to be a massacre when he finally catches him. What did he do? He got my friends mom pregnant with triplets. Yeah! I know right? Well, it was nice talking to you too."

Uh oh! Jasper tripped and Ems got him by a pant leg. Oh wait, Em HAD him by a pant leg, now Em has his pants? That boy really needs to work on his tan. Oh why is he running this direction?

"What? Im sorry, this FAGGOT cant hear you." Oh my gosh that was almost sad how his face fell just a little when I locked the doors. Too bad, soo sad. He better hope those boxer briefs of his are moisture resistant, because I have a feeling that he about pissed himself when Em lunged over the hood at him. I didn't even see that coming. Who would expect someone to go across the hood of their brand new truck?

Well, it looks like he's decided to just try running on home. I wonder if he has his keys in his underwear?

**Jpov**

No! What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he trying to kill me? What the hell is wrong with people? I am freezing my balls off, I just realized that he also has my keys and people are staring at me, though it really not surprising, Im in my underwear, bloody and running for my life. Where the hell are the cops when you want them?

**Bpov**

"Emmett! Emmett! If you don't stop chasing him right this minute I am going to ground you off your truck for a month! He doesn't even know why you are upset with him, for Petes sake! Give the poor man his pants back! Emmett! That is not nice!"

I swear to God! As I'm picking up Jaspers pants out of the biggest mud puddle in the street I can barely see him cresting the hill, still running as if the hounds of hell are on his heels. I pick up his boots and look around for the rest of his clothes and property as everyone loads back up in their respective autos.

"Em, if you lay a hand on him, I mean it, I will take your keys and you will be grounded. Do not hurt him."

"Carlisle, what the hell? Lets got find him before he gets arrested or worse, Lord only knows what could happen to him running around half naked in this city."

That poor man! What the hell has gotten into everyone? I mean, I could understand Ed being upset with him, after all , that is such and ugly word and he did deserve some of what he got for using it, but it looked like he had been through a really rough night and for Em to want to just jump out and start pounding on him with no explanation? What the hell?

"Carlisle, there he is, pull over and pick him up before Em spots him."

His pants are sopping wet so they arent going to do him any good, but I know Carlisle has a blanket in the trunk. "Let me have that blanket out of the trunk, will you?"

Wow, even he seems pissed at poor Jasper.

"Jasper! Over here! Hurry!" Oh the poor thing is shivering and looks like he's been beat to hell again.

"Here, wrap this around you. Come on, get in the car. I promise, you are safe. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I was trying to get Em to stop. I have no idea what has gotten into him other than he's upset over what you said to Ed last night. You don't remember yelling the word, 'faggot" at someone? Huh. Well, go figure. Drinking and you really do not seem to get along very well."

"Yes, I'm home and we need to talk."


	20. Chapter 20

**Shifting gears just a little bit here. Im going to let a little bit of angst creep in, but never fear, you all know me, I wont let it stick around for long. .**

**Bpov**

I needed some time to talk to him without everyone jumping in the middle of him or beating the hell out of him. The poor guy has been through the wringer and he looks like 10 miles of bad road, though it hasn't stopped him from noticing my chest.

"Carlisle, could you do us a favor and drop us off in front of his place? Please tell Em I will talk to him in a little while, but that we need some time to talk, alone, without any violence."

"Okay Bella, I am going to take the boys out for some food. Will you all order pizza or something?" He looks at me very pointedly in the rearview.

"Yes, I will order something here in just a little while. Don't worry, I can only imagine Jasper is starving." He's staring at my chest, but he nods as Carlisle pulls up right in front of his door.

"Come on hun, we need to get you inside quickly. Give me your keys. Let me have those wet jeans, you keep that blanket wrapped around you so you don't scare the residents."

We make it through the door as Em pulls into the parking lot, new stereo thumping some bluesy rock music that makes Jasper cringe.

"Let me guess? The guys latest?" He nods as he drops the blanket and slumps down on his couch.

"I wasn't expecting to see them last night. It was just a bit too much and I know I was an asshole. Was it Eddie that punched me?" I nodded at him.

"You shouted the F-word at the guys, apparently he took it personally."

"Oh hell. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I was just being drunk and stupid and pissed off." He looked genuinely contrite and embarrassed that he had said such a horrible thing, but I wasn't going to let him off the hook too easy.

"Well, im not the person you hurt. Maybe you need to apologize to Eddie? He's a pretty forgiving guy, I am willing to bet he will forgive you and he might be able to convince Em to do the same."

"Why is Em soo angry with me? We were doing fine, he was even living with me! We have been hanging out together for weeks and he's been my bro, and then all of the sudden, BOOM! He wants to kill me? Over a word I didn't even call anyone he knows when I was drunk? I don't get it!"

"Jasper, its not because of that. Em is upset because of something else and he's just blaming you because he doesn't know how to wrap his head around it all."

"Bella, what the hell is going on? I'm dirty, exhausted, missing my phone and my wallet, and worried my former Bro is going to come through that door and eat me for lunch, it cant really be all that bad."

"Jasper, why don't you go get a shower and some comfortable clothes on while I order some food. Do you want Pizza or Chinese or what sounds good?"

"I'm not picky, just surprise me. I'm going to get that shower and then, I hope you don't mind, I'm going to eat in bed. I'm soo fucking tired. Can we just lay in there and talk?"

"Yeah, I don't have any problem with that. Go get your shower."

Pizza it is. Simple and quick and filling. I'm a couple of sodas for him and a water for me. He doesn't take too long in the shower and he's out just as the pizza arrives, looking just as sexy as he ever did, only now his nipple piercing are gone and his tattoos are different and more masculine. I grab some napkins and we go back to his room to eat, which is surprisingly clean and sanitary for a single guy.

He digs into the pizza with no hesitation. "So why did you take off on us Bella? I mean, I understand you kinda freaked out about everything between us, and what we had done by not telling you everything was bullshit, but, you didn't have to take off for so long. You were really missed around here."

"Jasper, I needed some time to think about things. I wasn't sure about what I wanted to do or how I felt about how I had been treated. It felt like a huge betrayal by everyone and I needed time to process all that. Then I got other news that I needed further time to deal with."

"What was that?" He's looking at me speculatively, as if he has a vague idea of what's coming, but is just waiting for conformation.

" Jasper, I'm pregnant."

" Huh…really? That's cool."

"What? You are okay with it?"

"Why wouldn't I be? We knew it was a possibility with what had happened."

"Well, there is something more you need to know, I'm not just pregnant with one baby." Okay, that got him to stop chewing and raise and eyebrow.

"Jasper, I'm carrying triplets."

"Excuse me? What did you say?"

"Triplets."

"Triplets, as in three."

"How did that happen?"

"Jasper, you were there. I think you know how that happened."

"Uh Bella, that's a lot of kids."

"Jasper, I think I know that."

"Oh wow. Wow wow…."

"Jasper? Jasper? You need to breathe slowly. Its going to be okay. Jasper? Hey! Its okay, don't panic. If I didn't panic, you cant panic. Jasper, look at me. Hey! Hey! Focus on the boobs! That's it, there you go."

**Jpov **

I figured she was pregnant. She just had that look about her, but triplets? What the hell? That's crazy. I'm not ready for a litter of kids. Is God playing some huge joke on me? I don't even want to begin to tell my parents about this one. How in the hell am I going to support 3 kids? I can sort of support myself, I could maybe support one, but 3?

"Bella, are you planning on going through with the pregnancy? I mean, what about your health? Wont it be too much of a strain on you? What about the expense? I'm not really rich."

"Jasper, relax. I have insurance through my job and as long as I stay with it, they will provide coverage. When I have to stop, I will be covered under Family Medical Leave Act and then a Cobra plan, but if worse comes to worse, I have enough money to cover things. Charley had a fantastic life insurance plan and I have that and the money I got from selling the house, as well as I have saved half of my paychecks for the last 10 years. We will be fine."

She has money? What the hell? Cool! Maybe I could be her kept man instead of worrying about things. She's got all this handled, that much is obvious. Hell, she doesn't even need me, I wonder if she wants me to even stick around?

"Bella, what do you need me to do? Em wants to kill me, Carlisle and Eddie are both pissed at me, and I'm pretty much nothing but a washed up B-list actor, former musician. What good am I going to be to you and the kids?"

**Bpov**

He really didn't have a very high opinion of himself did he? I don't know what all had gone on while I was gone, but he really seemed to be down in the mouth about who he was and what he had to offer. I'm still pretty irritated over how he was in on the deception, but after all I have seen and heard about all the whipping up on he has endured, I think he has been punished more than enough, in fact probably more than anyone one else.

I reach for him and gently run my hand over his poor bruised cheek, "Don't you think you have anything to offer them as a father or as a person? I think you do, and if you want to try and be a father, I will work with you on that. I know its scary, hell! I am scared myself, but I think we will be fine. I have an appointment to go to this next week where they are going to be doing a bunch of testing to find out some things about them, if you want to come along with me, you are more than welcome." He leaned into my hand and I could see his whole body sag. He was just totally exhausted.

"Jasper, honey, why don't you go to sleep and we will talk more tomorrow?" He sighed and laid down on his side, holding onto my hand.

'Bella, would you lay down with me for awhile? I really could just use someone touching me that doesn't want to beat my ass."

I lay down with him and put my arms around him and in no time he was sound asleep and snoring softly through his battered nose. I didn't know what I was going to do with him. Maybe he did have an agenda like Em thought. Maybe he was too immature and irresponsible to be of any use to me and the kids, but I think he needs us, even if he doesn't realize it. He's got a lot of growing to do and that will only happen when he is forced to by people who expect more of him and who don't let him down. I'm going to give him a chance again to prove everyone wrong, I think he will be capable of great things, after all, he was there for me when I needed him, even if he didn't know it, and now that he needs someone, no one has really done anything for him except push him and tell him to get over it, but its pretty damn obvious he hasn't. He's hurting and his ego has taken too much of a beating to just, 'Get over it" very easy. Maybe I can help with that.

I covered him up and left him sleeping after a little while and then went to find my son and his partners in crime to have a serious talk about the state of the situation.

They were all hanging out in my living room looking through the owners manuals for Em's new truck and discussing what kind of vehicle I should buy tomorrow,(nice to know I was going to get to have input into it), though I had already decided I was buying a Flex so it would fit everyone and allow me to still haul things I might need to haul.

"Guys, its time to have a serious talk. I expect you all to listen to me, and heed what I say because its important." They all looked at me like they expected me to start smacking them with a rolled up newspaper or something.

"No more beating on Jasper. Period! End of Story. That's all there is to say about that. If you hurt him, you hurt me and these babies and we don't need the stress. He needs to be supported and taught how to act properly and constantly beating on him is not going to get that through to him. It just hurts him and then it hurts me. Em, I am serious. Get your temper under control. He is the father of your siblings, so you need to learn how to deal with him without violence, you are too big and too old for that and I don't want to visit you in prison if you accidentally kill him. Carlisle? He is your kin! You should be looking out for him and helping him learn how to be a responsible man, and I am going to expect more from you in that role. If he's going to be involved with this pregnancy, then he needs to know what he's dealing with and how to be of help, so teach him.

Eddie? He will be apologizing to you. You of all people should have just a little understanding of where he is coming from being that you two are so close in age and have so much in common with your relationships. Help him. Guide him. Educate him without thrashing on him.

Please guys? He's willing to be involved, I would kind of like him to be involved, but he cant keep getting beaten on. So lets stop with the violence and have a peaceful Christmas, and start the new year off all getting along and being supportive of each other? If we move to Texas, it will be a huge change for all of us and we will need all hands working together, so can I get that promise from you? Please?"

They are looking at me like I just walked in and announced I was going to be neutering them all and roasting the bits for dinner.

**Cpov**

Oh I don't see this ending well. She doesn't know him like I know him and while she might think we are being harsh on him, she has no idea what a little jerk he can be I hope for her sake he's really wanting to be of help and not trying to work some angle that is going to leave her hurting.

"Yes, mom. I hear you. I wont beat on him anymore. Its really not that much fun anyway, he's too small and its like smacking up a chick or a kid. Ill go back to being nice to him as long as he's not acting like a douche to you." Em knew I was ready, willing and able to take his keys away and ground him off his new truck, so he was quick to agree to stop the fighting in order to prevent that.

"Eddie? Please? For me? I really could use you guys all getting along, and he really seemed to be shocked at what he had said. He's going to apologize in person as soon as everyone stops beating on him."

"Okay Bella, Ill do it for you. But if I ever hear that word from him again, you wont have to worry about him knocking anyone else up."

Ooookay? Well, I guess that was progress? The only one who wasn't on board with everything was Carlisle. He was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and a stubborn look on his face.

"Carlisle? Please? I know he is your nephew, I know you have a history, but don't you think its time to give a chance to move forward? He isn't asking for this, I am. Would you do it for me?"

"Bella, I am willing to consider it, but I want you to consider this, he has bounced from one thing to another without following through since he was a kid. When the going gets tough, he runs. He has been spoiled and never held to account for anything so I am not expecting much from him and you shouldn't either."

"Point taken. I don't expect anything from him. Lets just give him a chance to prove us all wrong though and support him. I care for him quite a bit and I think if he's given half a chance he will be just fine."

"Well, I'm just trying to prepare you. We will be here for you, and we love you, but don't get your hopes up about him."

"Okay Carlisle, I hear you . Now can we just all get along? I need to know what the hell is up with that pathetic showing for a Christmas tree you have and why you guys aren't out getting one for my house right now? Em? You an Eddie handle that and get the decorations out of storage. Carlisle will you take me grocery shopping? I'm out of everything and I need to get to Fred Meyers before everything is gone."

Men scattered as we got busy trying to pull together a half-assed holiday. Carlisle and I managed to also do a little bit of Christmas shopping as well and we snuck packages to go under the tree after the boys got back with it. Everyone seemed to be happy as they came tromping back in with their burdens, and it wasn't too long before we had the tree up and decorated and stuffed with all the presents that had been stashed throughout the various apartments. We were sitting around watching the lights blink on and off on the tree and drinking some homemade spiced cider, enjoying the peace and quiet when a soft knock came at the door. I got up to get it and found a nervous, but rested Jasper standing there.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course you can. Em, get Jasper a cup of cider will you?"

Em jumped up and got him a mug and bringing it over to him, smiled and handed it to him with a gentle pat on his shoulder. "Were cool for now dude, 'kay?"

'Uh, sure man. Thanks?" Jasper smiled at him and then looked over at Eddie who was studiously ignoring him.

"Uh, Eddie?"

" Yes?"

"Uh, look. I am soo very sorry if I said that word. I didn't mean it. I was drunk and stupid and being an asshole. I really love you man and I wouldn't ever do or say anything to hurt you, especially that word. I swear, if you forgive me, I wont make that mistake again." Jasper sounded genuinely contrite and I could see that even Carlisle was surprised he was apologizing so sincerely.

"That is a really ugly word, but I guess if you really mean you are sorry for saying it, and you promise you wont do it again, I will have to give you another chance, but I will tell you now, if you do it again, a bloody nose will be the least of your worries."

"Understood. Again, I'm sorry and I'm stopping drinking and everything else for awhile. I think I need to in order to be a better person."

**Cpov**

Nuh uh. Nope. I don't buy it. I've heard this from him before and it ended with my sis in tears and the family nearly embarrassed as his father had to buy him a quick ticket out of town. He had fucked up once too often for me to buy his line of bull shit at face value, and he knew it. I saw the way he was looking at me. He knew. He knew I was going to be a hard sell. So? Prove me wrong little man. Don't cut and run on my best friend the moment things get really hard or you cant make your angle work, then I will be impressed.

"Well, that's good news Jasper. I hope it works for you this time." If you need any help, just let me know. In fact, why don't I give you a good physical in the next few days to make sure you are up to quitting totally? You might have some effects that will we will need to monitor you for, so let me know and we will be prepared."

Chew on that one. The amount of booze and crap he had been dumping into his body over the past few weeks had probably left a toxic wasteland that would need some kind of addressing. I knew he was badly underweight, and he looked somewhat jaundiced, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had some liver damage working.

"Thank you Carlisle, I would really appreciate that. I haven't felt very well for awhile so it would probably be a good idea to get a physical to make sure everything is okay. I would like to get into a gym as well and I know its not a good idea to start working out before having a good check up."

Okay, well. Check and mate.

**Bpov**

The night ended on a good note and Christmas was a happy time for all of us. Carlisle gave Jasper the going over of his life and found that not only was he over fifteen lbs underweight, he was anemic and was trying slightly jaundiced. Carlisle gave him more shots to boost his immune system and to help him gain some weight while he was dealing with quitting alcohol and even smoking with much encouragement from the rest of us.

My appointment was nerve-wracking for both of us, but he stood next to me as they drew the fluid for the CVS testing and he didn't even pass out, mainly because I think he was afraid Carlisle would neuter him while he was out. He stared at the tiny images on the screen of the ultrasound, listening in rapt attention as the sound of the birdlike heartbeats echoed in the quiet room, and he squeezed my hand tightly when we were told the risk factors for each of the disorders they were screening for, the Nuchal fold translucency screening had come back worrisome on one of the babies, so Carlisle has wanted to get more testing done to rule out any issues or worries, but it seemed that all it had done was add to them.

The week we waited for the test results was the longest of my life. Every time the phone rang I lunged for it, and if Jasper was around he came running. We should have known that news like we had coming would not come from Carlisle over the phone.

We were hanging out at Jaspers, looking at pictures his mother had sent of him when he was a baby. In spite of being unhappy that her son was going to be an unwed father, the family had supportive and welcoming, sending all kinds of genetic information we needed and pictures as well as incidental trivia about from when Jasper was small.

"If we have a boy, do you think we can name him after my dad?" The fact he was showing an interest in names and sexes made me happy and he had been attentive and all kinds of helpful over the past couple of weeks, though the worry over the test was wearing on us all.

Carlisle tapped on the door and came in followed by Em and Eddie, and I knew right then that he had something to tell us that was life changing. His face was serious and he had a file full of papers with him.

"Bella, Jasper, I have something to tell you that you need to both think about and talk over before you make any decisions. I have news about the babies."

Jasper grasped my hand tightly and scooted closer to me as Eddie sat down next to him and Em sat next to me. Carlisle sat facing all of us, his face drawn but thoughtful.

"First off, I want to tell you that you appear to be having a set of girls and a boy. We haven't found any heart defects or anything missing or obvious deformities like that. We will need to do further screening in a few weeks for neural tube defects, and other genetic issues, but with no family history of them on either side, the chances are fairly slim."

**Jpov **

A boy? Im going to have a son! Heck yeah! Two girls and my BOY! I don't know what the hell Carlisle is being all dramatic about , Im ready to start celebrating and passing out cigars and he looks like hes about to cry and Bella is shaking, so I am waiting for the, "But", but for now? Im gonna have a SON!That's going to be awesome in all kinds of ways. Its going to help my career because not only will having a pack of kids put the whole,'Gay" rumor to rest, but having a little boy to hang out with? that will be the shit. I'm already thinking about the type of guitar to get him. The little girls will get me the cute factor with all the chicks and the press, but having a son to pass on my name and all my cool shit to? I'm on cloud nine!I dont get why everyone is acting all worried?

**Bpov**

Something is wrong. Something is badly wrong with my babies. I can feel it in my bones and I can tell by Carlisles face. I cant let him keep dragging this out.

"Carlisle, cut to the chase. What is wrong with them?"

"Bella, it appears its just with the boy, and as early as we have caught it you still have the option to selectively reduce the pregnancy if you want, but it appears that he has Downs Syndrome. Trisomy 21 to be specific."

**Jpov**

Wait…what? Do what to my son?


	21. Chapter 21

**Guys, readers, those of you losing your shit over the last chapter, bear in mind I don't write what I don't know and what I don't research. I have a kid with Downs. If you got your knickers in a twist over what I wrote about them being told to selectively abort the kid, get them untwisted, its what I got told, its what new parents get told every day. The pressure to abort a Downs kid is huge. End of rant. it's a humor story. The angst is almost over. My son brought the funny within the first 10 minutes of his life when he pissed all over everyone in the delivery room. They are life changers in a lot of ways, most of them good. Now, back to the story and soon to the funny though this one is still a little tough. **

"What the hell do you mean, "Selectively reduce the pregnancy", Carlisle? How the hell does that work? Do you mean get rid of him?"

"Jasper, he is very likely to have issues that you aren't going to be prepared to deal with, things like mental retardation, physical delays as well as all kinds of problems that we wont know the scale of until he's born. He will never lead a normal life and you might end up having to care for him his entire life. Are you ready for that?"

**Jpov**

I'm going to punch him. I am going to punch my uncle in the face and then I'm going to call my momma and tell her and she will probably tell me to do it again. How can he tell us to get rid of him? He's an educated doctor! He knows that there is such a range of possibilities with Downs. He might be severely disabled, that is true, but then again he might be almost normal. Its not in our hands. I do know that this is time I have to stand up and do the right thing. I was lucky enough to have worked with a man who had Downs on a movie and it changed me. He was amazing and kind and just the sweetest guy. Yeah, it would be a challenge, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. We have family and friends who want to be involved, so lets let them get involved. He will have sisters who will love having a brother to spoil as well.

"Shut UP! You aren't going to do anything to him. He will be fine and if you hurt him, I will beat you down and then I will call momma and she will come up here and put a boot so far up your ass you will taste boot leather! Just shut the fuck up! You aren't hurting him!"

**Bpov**

By the way everyone jumped, you could tell we did not expect that reaction from him. Carlisle actually leaned back in the chair to get away from him. He didn't understand. Raising multiples, let alone one with a disability was going to be a huge task. They were all likely to be preemies, and now him with the added burden of Downs? That was making some really huge odds. Jasper tore out of the room with Em hot on his heels, I hope like hell not to beat on him again, as Carlisle started telling me what the chances for the other two babies would be for having the pregnancy go longer if we reduced by one. Jasper was not a practical thinker, and this situation called for practical thinking. I know he wanted a son, but he was young and could have a son down the road that might not have this disability. I didn't relish the idea of it anymore than anyone else, but I wanted to provide the best possible chances for the healthy babies. I didn't know what to do and Jasper was ruled by his emotions, so I needed to make informed decisions, and soon because there was a limited window where choices, as agonizing as they were, could be made.

**Empov**

Oh dude! What the hell? I did not expect that from him. Defending the lil guy even though he's going to be special? Man! He just became 100% okay in my books. I have to make sure he knows I have his back with this one. I'm on his side. We can do this, the little guy will be fine. We will look out for him.

"Jasper! Dude! Wait the fuck up!"

"What? Do you want to kick my ass? Well, just go the fuck ahead! I don't give a fuck anymore! I'm not going to let them hurt him! I don't care if you beat my ass into the ground, Ill fight all of you!"

"Dude! Chill the fuck out! I'm on your side." Oh whoa…he's crying? That sucks.

"Jasper, man? Its going to be okay. We will convince them." Oh…he's a hugger? I guess that's okay, as long as no one is looking. Poor dude. I feel bad for beating up on him so much now. He might have been a dick at times, but he's actually been okay lately with mom, maybe he just needed time to figure himself out.

**Jpov**

Its my fault! All the shit I had done, all the crap I had taken and drank and done to my body had screwed up my swimmers and now my son was paying the price for it. I couldn't let it cost him his life. I had to make this right.

"Em, please! Help me convince her? I have to make this right. Its all my fault and its just not fair that he pays for it. Please?"

**Empov**

His fault? How the hell was it his fault? I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was going to help him. I would support him and talk to my mom. I was really shocked that Carlisle was telling her to get rid of the lil dude like that. I mean, what the hell? He has to know if there is stuff that can be done other than that. Its not like the lil guy was going to be born with something that was going to kill us all or him, so what if he was going to be slow? I knew a guy with Downs who was the brother of one of my skating buddies. He couldn't skate for shit but he would mess your ass up in Tae kwon do and he even played drums. He was funny as hell and told the worst dirty jokes I have ever heard. I wasn't worried about having a sibling with it, Jasper wasn't ready to give up on having him as a son even if he had it, and I had a feeling Ed would be on our side as well and I KNOW for a fact my aunt would lose her mind if she found out mom was even considering getting rid of a baby, for any reason, when she had been so desperate to have a baby. We could win this, but Jasper had to get his shit together.

"Jasper, come with me. This is not over by a long shot. We are going to go talk to mom, and then if she wont listen, we are going to make some phone calls. So get your shit pulled together man, come on, its going to be okay, I promise you nobody is doing anything to my little brother."

**Jpov**

Em's on my side in this? Oh thank God for small favors. If he had been against me it would have been a done deal. I can tell by the stubborn set of his jaw and the way he's squaring up his shoulders, I wont need to call momma to get uncs ass kicked if he keeps pushing to get rid of my boy.

When we walk back inside, he puts his arm around my shoulder and he stands there right next to me in front of Bella as I begin to plead for my son.

"Bella, please. Listen to me. I will do whatever you want, I will do whatever it takes to help you out, but please, don't get rid of my son. I know you are scared and worried about what all could be wrong, and I am sorry I did that to him, its my fault and its not fair."

"What? What do you mean by that? How could you have had anything to do with him having Downs, Jasper?" She reaches up and catches my hand and pulls me to her, wrapping me up in a hug, and I cant help it, I lose my shit, crying as hard as I ever have in my life, sorry and sad and scared for him, scared that im not going to be able to convince her to hear me, and that I am going to bear this sorrow forever, knowing that its my fault I cost my son his life.

"All the drinking and shit I did, all the stupidity and not taking care of myself messed things up. Its all my fault."

"NO! It absolutely is NOT! Jasper! You listen to me and you listen well. This had nothing to do with anything either one of you did or didn't do. It just happens. It can happen to anyone, be they rich, poor, white, black. It just happens. They haven't found a real rhyme or reason, just that it appears more often in pregnancy of those under 18 and increases as a woman ages over 35."

Carlisle was on his knees in front of us looking more serious than I've ever seen him look, but I still wanted to kick him because I didn't believe him. He was just trying to make me feel better so I would go along with what he wanted.

"Huh…kinda like homosexuality? Did you know they were saying on the news the other day that there were folks who had been looking for the gene that causes homosexuality, and if they find that, just imagine all the people that would have been and could be "selectively reduced" if their parents had known in advance, I know for sure I damn well wouldn't be here. Maybe we mess around a little too much with stuff sometimes Carlisle."

We all turned and looked at Eddie. He had sat there the entire time looking like he was doing a lot of thinking but not any talking, and I had never been so glad in my life to hear him speak up for once, because I saw Carlisle break. He knew Ed was right. He had been disowned by his family and even though he and Carlisle had been together longer than most of the straight couples in Eddies family, they had never responded to his attempts to reestablish contact, he had been discarded.

"Oh honey, I didn't know this would be something that would be such a hard thing for you. He's never going to be like other children. He might be severely retarded or have other issues."

"Bella, I know and we will deal with it and if you don't want to deal with it, I will deal with him on my own. Please, just give me that option. I worked with a guy who had Downs and Bella, he was the coolest guy. We don't know and we wont know what he can and cant do if we don't ever give him a chance. If you need more help around here, I will be more help. If you need more money, I will get you money. If you need anything, I will get it, but please, just don't get rid of him. Do you want to get married? I will marry you now."

**Bpov**

He is just full of surprises today. I had frankly expected him to run for the hills the moment we were having triplets, and then we find out we are having one with a disability that has such a stigma attached to it that would be sure to be a shot to his ego, and instead of going with what would be the easy way out, he is standing here ready to fight tooth and nail for the child's very survival? And then just when I think there aren't anymore surprises looming on the horizon, I get a proposal? Granted, it's a half-assed proposal that is obviously given under duress, but still!

"No. Jasper, You are overwrought right now and I am not going to even consider that a legitimate proposal. But, sweetheart, if you are really sure?"

"Yes! Please Bella! Please! Lets keep him. We can do this. We will all help you, wont we?"

Whoa…that was quite a glare he shot to Carlisle, who didn't even hesitate in his nod of support.

"Mom, I promise you, I will do anything to be a good big brother to all of them, and if anyone ever gives him a hard time, I will be there to help him out. Don't worry, he will be fine."

"Okay then, we will keep them all. Oooof! Unless of course you all squeeze them out of me."

**Cpov**

I know they all see me as the bad guy right now, but it had to be said. I have seen the best outcomes and the worst outcomes. I didn't want one child who wouldn't have a normal life to put my friend at risk of losing hers or her other babies, but Eddie was right, they were getting closer and closer to figuring out what genetic links there were to all kinds of things, and while this little boy might be slower than some and do things differently, the rest of the tests hadn't indicated anything else wrong with him, so I had been advocating getting rid of him just because he was different, just like I was, "Different" because I knew there were just as many people who would want to get rid of me for my difference.

"Bella, I respect the decision you guys have made and I hope you know you guys have my support and help every step of the way. Jasper, son, Please? Listen to me, you didn't do this. I am going to bring you some things to read in the next few days about Downs Syndrome, it will give you an idea about what to expect and how you can help him and Bella, okay? Please don't see me as the enemy? Its not personal against him, I just worry about anyone in your situation. Bella is likely to end up on bed rest pretty early on and we are going to have to keep her stress level down. Have you given a thought to where you are going to live? How you are going to support them? You don't even have a job or an education. Its not cheap to support a child with a lifelong disability, and while it seems like a long ways away now, you have to consider the fact that you are going to have to be responsible for him his entire life, and with good medical care, men with Downs are living into their 60's, so he might even outlive you. I can tell with almost 100% certainty he is going to need glasses and more specialized dental care and probably thyroid support. There are a whole range of common health issues that we will have to be prepared to address, and I can handle most of them, but Bella, I know you had wanted to move to Texas to be nearer to your sister, and while I respect that, one of the premier facilities for the care and support of children and adults with Downs is here in Portland up at Doernbecher Children's Hospital, so while I know you really want to move, I think it would be best to stay here until at least after he is born and evaluated, though you will need a bigger place."

**Bpov**

"Carlisle, money isn't really an issue. Seriously, we have enough money to take care of things. Jasper has time to figure things out. I have talked to corporate and there are options for me with them or I can take leave until after they are born. I have the savings. Right now, lets just take this one day at a time and one step at a time until things are further along. I agree that staying in Portland is probably for the best. Maybe I will be able to finally pry my sis out of Texas, I've been trying for decades, but for now, I am tired and I want to go lay down and take a nap if that's okay?

They all nod or hug me, and head for the door to go get food except for Jasper, he standing there looking like he's fought the battle of his life, weary and not sure where to turn, so I walk over to him and take his hand, "Come on young man, lets go take a nap together, I think we are going to need to get all the rest we can before this adventure gets the best of us. We have to rest to grow these babies big, and looking at the size of you, I should probably be sleeping 24/7 for the rest of the pregnancy to give them a fighting chance at runt size."

**Jpov**

She cracked a joke? She's taking me to bed with her,(so what if its for a nap?), and she just cracked a joke? She's giving me a chance? I really, seriously, cannot fuck this up, can I? Oh my God. What the hell am I going to do now? I have someone counting on me and lives depending on it. For once in my life, something I am doing really does mean life and death.


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay, I told ya'll the funny was going to be back. **

Keeping the stress level low is quite a challenge when you have a boy who seems to be in full on freak out mode almost 24/7.

"Bella? Did you take your vitamins this morning? You aren't going to drink that coffee are you? You know coffee isn't good for the babies don't you? Did you eat anything yet? Do you want me to cook you something?"

"Jasper?"

"Yes?"

"If you don't give me my coffee cup back and shut the hell up, I am going to remove your nards with my sugar spoon. Its not even eight o'clock in the morning and it's the swill they are drinking in hell, otherwise known as decaf, so get off my ass about it. Carlisle said it was okay to have a couple cups of it while I wean down to tea or whatever."

"Jeesh Bella! You don't have to be soo grumpy. I'm just trying to help."

"Sweetheart, I know. But I have gas, hemorrhoids, and one of your kids is currently bouncing on my bladder, so unless you want to see me piss myself, you might want to help me get back up so I can go to the bathroom."

He really has been helpful, and a good sport through the drama of the past couple of months. The middle of the second trimester had seen me blow up to the size of a house, and moving around had become difficult. He had given up any pretense of living at his own apartment at that point and had just started sleeping over constantly in order to help me out. Emmett and Eddie had begun handling most of the chores around the complex as well as the shopping and other errands, and Carlisle hovered…constantly. My nether regions had not been my private domain in weeks. I got one more good bumping of uglies out of Jasper before he got some weird idea that he could disturb the babies in his mind and after that? Well…I don't think even Viagra would have perked him up. Life officially sucked most days, especially after Carlisle discovered I was partially dilated after one exam. I'm supposed to be on total bed rest, but im still allowed to get up to use the bathroom, (at least the last time I asked), so now I'm trapped in the house with only my books, computer, the guys and the tv for company and I am pretty sick of all of them. I had snuck into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee only to get busted by the warden.

"Okay, but you are going back to bed aren't you? Ill bring you whatever you want."

"You gonna bring me a shower and the last remaining threads of my sanity as they slip away? Get off my ass, Jasper! I'm going!"

**Jpov**

Oh boy…its going to be one of those days. She is in a mood. I wonder if I can get Em to hang out with her for a bit so I can get out and get her some things to perk her up? I kinda doubt it. She had gas so bad the other day I swear he was right about losing part of his eyebrows and we had to leave the windows open for at least an hour.

I don't blame her for being cranky though, she is HUGE! I mean, WOW! Her boobs are so giant and angry looking, they almost scare me…almost. I wanna touch them, but that book Carlisle gave me said that any kind of stimulation like that could give her contractions and that could cause preterm labor and then that lecture he gave me about how important it was to make sure she wasn't at risk for infections? Ugh! I hated to pull my piercing out, but I figured, anything for them, and then to find out that it was still just too risky after what I read? Lets just say it's a damn good thing she keeps a good supply of body wash in the shower? My poor pecker should have calluses to match the ones on my hand. Maybe I'm a bit of a freak or something but I think she's sexy as hell even if she is gassy and huge and threatening to rip my parts off most of the time.

Life has gotten, weird? It seems like yesterday I was thinking about using a kid as an angle to boost my career and get my life back, and now my life is no longer my own. It belongs heart and soul to those three little blobs with the little fingers that they wrapped me around so easily. I always wanted to be a daddy. I just figured it would be when I was old and shit, not when I was still young and figuring shit out for myself, and figuring shit out is hard. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, and considering that is happening really damn fast, I need to kinda pick something.

Em has been talking to me about going to college with him. He is has been taking online classes for a while though some community college and they are pretty forgiving of youthful fuckery. Momma is sending all my stuff from my high school up to me and we are going to go over to some office later in the week to see what I have to do to get tested and enrolled in the basics. Carlisle and Eddie have offered to hang out with Bella while we go, and I am even starting to look at jobs.

Yeah, im still wanting to do the whole acting and musician thing, but its not a priority anymore. If it happens, it happens, im not gonna chase that shit, I have reality to deal with and its actually something im looking forward to, and if I start to forget, I have those 3D pictures of my babies to look at to remind me.

Bellas sis is on the way and that scares me more than a little bit. Em says she's always wanted to be a momma and never been able to, and now she's uprooting and moving here to Portland to be here to help raise my kids. What if she doesn't like me? I know she's really protective of Bella. Em told me that much. He also told me that she's old school Texan and I know exactly what the hell that means, it means Ill get my ass handed to me by a chick if I don't pass the muster. Momma has offered to come up and help, but I don't want her to fight my battles for me, I want to handle this and prove to them I can do it.

Bella doesn't know I've been out house hunting with Em when I get a break. I have some savings too and its enough to buy a pretty damn fat place, in fact, I found a house over in Lauralhurst that has a mother in law house out back that would be perfect for Carlisle and Eddie, and I could buy it. It needs a little bit of work to be perfect, but considering it's sat empty for over 5 years, it's actually in great shape. Carlisle is going to look at it with Eddie today and if they like it, we are going to partner on it and surprise her with it.

I hope she will like it, its got a fenced yard and is away from the busy roads, there are trees all over it, and the stairs aren't too steep so he wouldn't have to struggle too much to get up to his room and each of the girls could have their own room as well. Em was excited about the one room on the ground floor off the garage that would allow him the freedom to come and go as he pleased, and that just left me wondering where that put me? Would she let me stay? Would we all live together as one big family or would she kick me out once she delivered? I don't want to be a weekend daddy. I want to be there all the time. I've tried talking to her about it, but she's not willing to really get too wrapped up into trying to firm things up until its closer to time for them to get here, but its getting close. Carlisle told me that if she made it another full month he would be amazed. Her blood pressure had been creeping up steadily and instead of getting checked every month or every two weeks, she had been getting checked every week for quite a while and she was not happy about it. Her last labs had protein or something going on and Carlisle was having her go into the hospital on Monday for another ultrasound and more tests.

"Em? Hey man, are you awake?"

"Ugh…duuude! What the hell? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah man, everything is okay, but I wanted to go get some things for your mom. She's having a rough day and she's a little cranky, so I thought I would go get her some treats and shit if you would hang out in case she needed anything."

"Oh dude! Is Ed around? Can you see if he will do it and Ill go with you? Please? I'm still scarred from last time!"

"Sorry man, they were leaving out bright and early to go look at the house and then talk to the agent about what the options are for us."

"Oh jeeze! Oh well, okay then, but could you bring me some VooDoo maple bacons?"

'Yeah. I was headed there anyway. Will four be enough this time?" I swear, I didn't even get to lick the crumbs out of the box when I brought home a box of them with only 2 of the bacon maples in it the last time. Em and Eddie had tackled me at the door the minute they saw that pink box and the next think I knew my t-shirt was up over my head and they were locked in Em's room with the box. I don't know what all went on, I don't really want to know, but two dozen donuts did not survive to come out of that room.

"All right man, I will keep an eye on her."

**Bpov**

"Keep an eye on me?" Really? Did they expect me to try and escape? Its not like I could get very far. I get a banging headache if move around too much and im constantly out of breath. I haven't driven my own damn car in a couple of months and when I do get to go anyplace,(mainly the hospital for tests), I have to go in Emmett's truck because everything else is too small, and even then, Emmett doesn't drive, Carlisle does. Since when did everyone around me became such safety freaks? When I was pregnant with Em, I worked up until I was ready to have him. Yeah, I understand I am older and I am outnumbered by this pack of babies, but my goodness!

Jasper keeps trying to pressure me into telling him about what is going to happen after the babies are born, but the truth of the matter is, I don't know and im afraid if we go making too many plans for the future we will cause something bad to happen.

I know it seems stupid, but Charley and I had made big plans for the future and look where that got us. After we got the word about the little boys Downs Syndrome, I don't even want to talk about names anymore. I just cant. What if we name him and he doesn't make it? We will just deal when they are here. I know that Carlisle thinks they are coming early and I am trying my level best to be good and follow all the directions, but laying around constantly when the Spring is right outside my windows is really hard to do.

I am proud of Jasper. Em has told me what he has been up to, and while it makes me sad that he's giving up on his dreams. The fans were still looking for him from time to time, and the few nights he had gone out and played open mic nights while I was gone had let them pin his location down to Portland, but he had managed to stay off their radar ever since. Most were convinced he had "Found his dream man and had shacked up with him, choosing to live a life of bohemian simplicity." to quote one of the more imaginative bloggers. Some were less kind, saying that he never had the talent to make it anyway, and those made me want to rage. He had talent in spades, but he was trying to prove himself in another way.

His old band was doing okay. They had even released a second album and were touring to support it, and I don't know if he's aware of it or not. I don't bring it up to him, because I know it still stings. He plays guitar with Em quite a bit and they keep me entertained when I am feeling low, and at night he plays and sings to the babies. I know they like it. They settle down and quit punting my kidneys around when he's singing to them.

He was working hard to improve himself and stay healthy and to stay positive. He had really bonded well with Em and I didn't worry about Em pounding on him anymore, in fact, Em had sat down with me and had a heart to heart talk with me about how important he thought Jasper was to us and the babies. He didn't look at him as a father figure, that would always be Carlisle and Eddie, but he had the big brother he had always wanted and the role model.

"He's trying hard to do the right things mom. I mean, everything in his life has always either been handed to him or has come easy to him, and now he's dealing with stuff that is out of his control and that he cant just smile at or throw money at and fix it, and he's still willing to fight to do the right thing. That's so damn honorable. Carlisle told me all the shit he did when he was young, and yeah, he was an asshole, but mom…he's really trying to be a good guy and I want him around. I think if you push him away, you will break him and you don't want that on you. Ill still flip him shit and make sure he knows we are going to keep him in line, but mom! I think he is going to be the best dad ever. That's just my 2 cents, but please, I know you don't want to make any decisions right now, but think about it, would you?"

I had promised to consider it, and honestly I really enjoyed having him around. He was sweet and he was very involved and interested in everything to do with the babies, but I didn't think I was doing right by him. His entire life he had worked hard to become famous and to become someone, and while he had hit a bump in the road and was taking a break, I hated to see him just throw it all away. He had fans out there who missed him, thousands of them, including me, and while I had him wrapped up around me at night, keeping my bed warm and being the father of my kids, he had lost his spark. His eyes didn't have that same shine and I blamed myself for that. There had to be a happy medium, we just needed to find it, because I couldn't sit back and watch the boy who shined as bright as the sun turn into just another burnt out star.

"Mom! Are you decent?"

"Yeah Em, I'm decent. What's up?" the poor guy was gun shy after walking in one morning when I was struggling with getting a bra on. I knew it would not be a mistake he made again. I had heard him and Jasper whispering back and forth about, "Giant, angry, man-killing boobs" and while there were times they felt like that , I couldn't help but to laugh a the visual of them strangling or thrashing the guys. If they thought they were huge during this part of things, they would be completely freaked out when the babies delivered and my milk came in. I remembered what they were like after Em was born and it felt like they entered a room a full minute before I did.

"Mom, Do you want some more decaf?" He made a little gagging action in sympathy as he said decaf. He knew out of all the things I had given up, salt, movement, independence, privacy, bladder control, driving and so on, giving up coffee had been the toughest on me. I had drank coffee all through my pregnancy with him and had no problems, but with this pregnancy there was no taking any risks, so the coffee and all other caffeine had gone, along with my good mood for at least a week.

"Yeah, if you would. Add a little extra sugar this time would you? I heard Jasper say he was going after Voodoo? Cool! Em, I mean it, if I don't at least get a bite of a maple bacon this time, someone is going to get hurt!"

"Now mom, you know Carlisle said you have to watch your sodium and fat intake, and I can tell you from experience that those are loaded with both, but I am willing to bet you that he will bring you a Memphis Blunt or Tang donut."

"Em? I swear to God I will do something very wrong to all of you. I just want a bite. Bring me the phone and I will call Carlisle and get permission. I am willing to bet he will say a bit is okay."

"Mom, I'm just messing with you, he already said you could have half of one."

"Was Jasper just going after donuts?"

"Uhhhh…no."

"Where was he going?"

"I don't know." Oh I know that guilty look. He's hiding something.

"Emmett…"

"Aww, come on mom! Let the poor guy surprise you for once? He's trying to do something nice to make you feel better."

"Oh."

Last time he did that, he brought me a few dozen flowers and some herbal teas and lotions and all kinds of stuff for when I had to go into the hospital. He is so damn thoughtful that it would be easy to believe he was gay if I wasn't carrying the evidence to the contrary.

"Okay. Hey, listen, I want to try and get a shower after he gets back, so would you please leave me the hot water? If you want to take a shower would you go to Jaspers?"

'Mom, are you sure that's a good idea? Carlisle wanted you to stay laying down as much as possible."

"Em! I need to wash my damn hair. I need to shave what I can see of my legs. Do not give me a hard time. I said I would wait until Jasper got home, but if I don't get some of the grime scrubbed off of me I will do something dire.

"Bella, don't traumatize the boy. I'm home and Ill help you get a shower, in fact, Ill wash what you cant reach if you want me to?"

"Oh now who is talking about not traumatizing the boy? I can hear you guys you know and that's just…EWW!"

"Go eat your donuts boy, this here is adult business we are tending too."

What the hell had gotten into Jasper? He came strolling in with the donuts and flowers for me as well as all kinds of lotions and massage things? Well, talk about putting a little bit of try hard out there, he was damn sure doing that.

"You relax here for a minute and Ill get things ready for you in the bathroom. I want to scoot the chair up so I can get in around you and maneuver."

"Maneuver" What on earth? I really liked the sound of that. I don't know what he has in mind, but with all the hormones I have pumping through me, along with laying in bed with that every night and unable to do anything with it, I know I am more than willing to explore my options.

"Oh! Where is your piercing?" I know that probably shouldn't be the first thing I notice about him, but it always had been an attention getter.

"Well, Carlisle said that they could create pathways to infection and even though we cant have sex, so please don't get mad at me, but Carlisle said that would not be good for you or the babies, so since I was hoping to someday be with you again, I didn't want to risk making you sick so I removed it."

Oh. Damn. Im going to smack Carlisle when I see him, because I REALLY liked that piercing, but im also touched he did that for me.

"Ugh, Do you have any idea how hard it is to be naked around you and behave myself?"

Mmm, he got the water just right and as he started running his fingers though my hair and massaging my scalp, he leaned up against me and I had to smile as I felt something I thought had vanished for the foreseeable future.

"Gee, no Bella, I had NO idea…but in case you were wondering, I bought body wash in the economy size container this time."

**Empov**

I hear giggling. Eww! I know they aren't supposed to be doing anything but the mind just…gross. I don't want to go there. What kind of donuts did he bring? Oh COOL! What a good dude! A DOZEN maple bacons and then a dozen of the Tangs and Memphis Blunts? Awesome! What else did he bring? Lotion? Eww! I need to bleach my brain and my eyeballs with all the stuff that has been inflicted on me in the past few months. Hell, its amazing I'm even interested in women at all anymore at all.

"Oh hey Ed! Don't you pig all of them down fucker!" It never fails he shows up when there are donuts in the house.

"What are the breeders doing?" We both shudder as we hear more laughter coming out of the bathroom followed by what sounds like a groan from Jasper.

"Uh, Im sorry, Im going to lose my appetite if they keep that up. I thought they weren't supposed to be doing anything?"

"They arent Ed! I guess we could tell Carlisle?"

"Tell me what?" oh boy, the gang is all here now and mom and Jasper are soo busted!

"Jasper and Bella are getting their freak on in the shower or something. Its really making it hard to enjoy these donuts Jasper got for us."

More groans from Jasper are heard over the sounds of the running water followed by a thud that made us all look at the door.

"Jasper? Jasper, honey? Are you okay? Uh Em? Help!"

We all hit the door on every teen boys nightmare, their mom, hugely pregnant and very naked, in a shower chair, with her very naked boyfriend unconscious in the bottom of the shower, wedged underneath her.

Thank God for Carlisle.

"Em, shut the water off and then go get me a sheet and some towels. Bella? Are you okay?"

"Im fine! What the hell is wrong with Jasper?"

"What happened?"

Oh hell, I know I don't want to hear this. "Uh, I'm going to go get that sheet now, Ill be back."

"Okay Em, thanks!"

When I come back Eddie is trying to not laugh and is failing badly, but he and Carlisle have gotten mom up and mostly covered by towels as they take the sheet and wrap it around her.

"Ed, will you help her get back to bed? Em, I need your help to get him up and out of there if you don't mind."

"Carlisle, just tell me where you want him, he's soo tiny I can get him easier myself."

"Put him in the bed will you? I need to check him out, but I think I already know what the problem is."

Whoa, the dude is soo damn skinny. What the hell? Has he not been eating at all lately? I manage to get a towel wrapped around him and swooped him up and carried into moms room without banging him into the wall or anything, so I was pretty proud of myself. Carlisle had taken off to his place and then come back with his little emergency kit and he started giving Jasper a once over as mom hovered over him and gently dried him off.

"Well, its what I thought, he's got really low blood sugar and he must have passed out from uh…the uh…excitement. He needs to be taking better care of himself ."

"Who needs to be taking better care of themselves? What the hell is going on in here? I tell ya'll im coming and NOBODY even has a 'Welcome" mat out for us but you leave the damn front door open where any ole crackhead can come strolling right on in? Who the hell is that naked, unconscious boy? Did I just walk in on some Left coast weirdness that I don't even want to know about?"

Oh cool, Aunt Rose is here, now things are going to get fun.


	23. Chapter 23

'Good Lord sis, you are as big as a house! What the hell? Did you eat what's missing of that poor excuse of a boy you have laid up there on the bed next to you?"

"Well…."

"Eddie! Shut Up!" We all yell at him as Rose starts fussing over Jasper, sitting next to Carlisle like she's known him her whole life. She presents her hand to him.

"Well, I'm assuming by the fact you look like you might know a thing or two, and you are hotter than hell at high noon, yet have that whole, "I'm good looking , educated, got my shit together and I'm otherwise perfect except for the whole gay thing," you must be Carlisle?" he nods at her, looking a bit nervous for first time since I have ever known him, "So what is wrong with this poor child? Why is he unconscious in bed with my sister?"

"Sis? What the hell have you done to this poor boy? Have you not fed him? He's no bigger than a minute and pale as a ghost! Emmett! Do you all have any groceries?"

She was shooting questions at all of us so fast that none of us could get a word in edgewise until mom finally got her attention.

"Heifer! If you would hush up just a damned minute! This is my Jasper. Yes, he needs some feeing up and some care that I haven't been able to give him lately. He's been so busy taking care of me that he hasn't been taking very good care of himself and it finally caught up to him. This is Carlisle and Eddie. I don't know what the grocery situation is, I haven't been allowed into the kitchen in weeks. I am very glad you are here, where the hell is Marcus and my truck?"

"You mean your former truck. Your big ass wouldn't even fit in the damn thing, and they are over at out new house unloading all the shit he insisted on dragging along with us. Carlisle and Eddie, Is this boy in any life threatening danger right now?"

Carlisle shook his head, " He has low blood sugar, and he needs rest and better nutrition."

"Low blood sugar? Its that all? Em? Do you have any frosting or better yet, hand me that damn donut." Before any of us could say anything she took the maple bacon out of my hands and swiped her fingers through the frosting on the top, gathering up a dollop of it, then she leaned over Jasper and gently opening his mouth she wiped into his gums and teeth. " You should know that move, Doc. It works on diabetics who screw up and go too long between meals. Is this boy a diabetic?"

Carlisle shook his head, "No, he just had a totality of circumstances that tipped him over the edge and he passed out."

"Emphasis on the cum I think is what is important Carlisle!" Eddie cackled as mom blushed.

"Bella! Good Lord. Well, then. Hello there young man. Nice of you to join the party. I am Bella's sister Rose, you must be the father of my nieces and nephew. Its nice to finally meet you. Do you happen to own any drawers?"

Poor Jasper, waking up damp, his bits and pieces covered in a towel with my Aunt looming over him while everyone in the room laughed? Its amazing he didn't run for the hills. But he just smiled at her and said, "Yes ma'am I do have some, and if Em would be so kind as to fetch them for me, I would be happy to put them on. Its very nice to finally meet you, I have been looking forward to it."

"Well aren't you just cute as a speckled pup in a little red wagon! Bella said you had some good home training, but it does show through. When is the last time you had a proper meal?"

"Ma'am? We have been doing our best around here, but Bella is on strict bed rest so its been bachelor cooking for a few months now and none of us are too great shakes at it"

"Well bless your heart! Bella I want to hug him! He's just making my heart hurt! Where the hell did you get those eyelashes? That should be illegal! Em, get the boy his drawers and then I want you and Carlisle to go to the market for me. I need to you fetch up some things. None of you are anything weird like a vegetarian or contrary or whatever are you?"

We were all staring at her like we were dumbstruck. Carlisle was the only one who finally got the nerve to speak, "Uh, no, none of us are vegetarians, but we are all on low sodium diets and Bella cant have anything that is too high in fat or any caffeine because of the pregnancy."

"Okay, Well, we can handle that. Ill give you a list and my card. Em, get good stuff, no store brands and get some beef as well as some potatoes and things that will help me put some ass in this boys pants. Bella? Do you want anything special for lunch? I can make you up some sandwiches or I can cook, you just tell me what you want. I'm gonna have Marcus bring the grill over here, we are going to have steaks tonight, so count on that."

Steak? Oh hell yeah! I was already drooling thinking about that. Aunty cooked her steaks in butter and that meant they were gonna be goood! Jasper was just staring at her like he wasn't quite sure what to think. I tossed his pants at him and he grabbed them and then tried to scoot off the bed to go to the bathroom to put them on, but he was still too shaky. He tried to stand but promptly sat back down.

"Oh hell no! Young man, you need to stay put. Give me those chones, Carlisle? You're his kin aren't you? Help him get his drawers on and then lets get him tucked into bed next to Bella. Sweetheart, you aint going anywhere. I'm cooking you up some oatmeal and some ham and then you are going to take a nap. Bell? Is that okay with you?"

"Rose, that sounds perfect. Please do that. He doesn't care much for raisins though, so just the basics."

"Do you drink milk?"

"Uh, yes ma'am?

"Okay, good. Em, put 2% on that list and get me a couple of gallons. Allright! Snap to boys, lets get this done. I'm gonna step out for a minute so you can get him decent and then we are going to get this place squared away."

**Bpov**

That's my Rose. She will get things taken care of. I would normally be annoyed and resistant to her coming in and just taking over, but honestly, Jasper passing out scared the life out of me. I knew he was thin and not taking good care of himself, but who knew a little hummer would put a man on his ass? I try to do one nice thing for the boy and he passes out. Its just a classic FML moment, and I don't care to relive it, though I am sure Eddie will make sure that we do. I can tell that Jasper isn't quite sure of what to make of her and she is quite taken with him. She takes in strays, always has. She had a house full of teens that were cast off foster kids that were on the verge of getting locked up. She managed to keep them out of trouble and in school until most of them graduated and went on into careers or trade schools. Jasper will be her new pet project.

**Rpov**

Oh good Lord! What a little doll baby he is! Sis wasn't lying! Hes as cute as a little button mushroom and you just want to cuddle him and pet him like a runt of the litter pup. No wonder he was able to get her knocked up higher than a kite, those eyes and dimples alone probably have women and men dropping pants all over the damn place. He's just a doll baby to me though. Poor thing is soo skinny you can see every rib on him and his hip bones as well. That aint right. He needs to be filled out and perked up. I know sis has been worried about him and that's what made me hurry my ass up about getting up here, she was getting really worried about him and worry for her is not a good thing.

We are going to start with feeding him up and titty babying him for a while. He needs to be babied and I don't mind doing it. Marcus likes doing his thing and since we don't have kids it's not like I have much to keep me busy. Between Bella and her poor starved man, I think I have found my calling.

**Jpov**

She's not kicking my ass? She's being nice to me? What the hell? I feel like hell, so im not going to argue with her, but wow! Just wow. Ill cuddle up next to Bella and rest for awhile and let someone else take care of business. She's pretty damn bossy, but I don't mind, she reminds me of my momma.

"Thank you ma'am, I really appreciate the help. Bella, if you don't mind the company?"

No sweetie, you come on up here and cuddle up, Ill wake you up when your food is ready."

Oh, this I could get used to .

**Rpov**

Getting them boys lined out didn't take too long. That Carlisle fella seems to have a good head on his shoulders and I think he will get the right stuff I want for cooking up good meals for this patchwork family. What a mess things are around here. Its pretty obvious its been boys running the show for a while, because my sis would never tolerate dishes in the sink or dirty jeans on the floor. I know by the size of them, they have to be Em's. That boy gets much bigger and he will need a separate economy for his feed bill. I hope he gets enough steaks for everyone for tonight, I figure Carlisle will have sense enough to know what we need. Yech! All she has is instant oatmeal? What the hell? I know that's not my sisters doing. Well, Ill make due. The boy needs some food in his belly and I don't imagine he will be too damn picky. Ham doesn't look great, but its better than nothing, and some toast to go with should stick to his ribs. I don't care what she says, she loves that boy. I can tell by looking at her and listening to her talk about him. She doesn't want to, but she does. Em seems pretty fond of him too. He must be something to get them wrapped up like that. I've seen some of his acting stuff and his videos of music and he's cute but not really my thing. My Marcus would make two or three of that poor lil pup, and Charley would have as well, maybe Bella has just decided to find her one that wont go out and get himself killed in such a horrible way? Who the hell knows? Either or, he needs looking after, just as much as she does and the fact he stood up and defended that lil sickly one of his like he did tells me the measure of the man he is and while he may not be a big fella, he sounds like he's got a giant heart.

"Bella? Where the hell do you keep the sauce pans?"

"Next to the stove under the knife rack. Don't use the red one, its got a loose handle that I've got to fix."

"Oh good Lord, Woman!"

"Hey, don't hate on the pans, they get the job done."

"You need to be quiet, you are probably keeping that boy awake and he needs his rest."

"I don't think an earthquake would wake him at the moment. He's snoring pretty good."

"Poor baby, you sure took it out of him didn't you , you cougar!"

"Hey! that's not nice! True, but not nice."

**Empov**

Grocery shopping with Carlisle and a list. This is fun. I know hes wondering just what the hell has landed on our home in the form of my aunt, and it sure was funny to see him speechless when she called him hot, but hes looking like he wants to ask me questions.

"Whats up, Carlisle?"

'Emmett, uh, is your Aunt interested in Jasper or something?"

"Oh ewww! Dude! No! Not even. She's not like that. She's more the type to adopt him than to want to get with him. Wait til you meet Uncle Marcus then you will see what I am talking about when I say that Jasper is nowhere near her type. She has just always wanted to be a mom and for some reason couldn't. They tried adopting and every time they would get a kid, some shit would go down and the parent would either back out or something would happen, so eventually they just quit. She spent some time looking after some teens in trouble, but nah…Jasper is more the type she will mother, not the type she will want to do. She loves Marcus and he loves her, there's nothing past that. They have been together forever."

**Cpov**

Thank God! I had really been worried. The way she had reacted to Jasper had me thinking that he was going to be in the middle of some sisterly drama and neither Bella nor Jasper needs that right now, so while I am amused to hear Jasper is going to be getting mother-henned and looked after by a woman who may be able to clean the deck with him, I think he needed that and I know Bella did. She was worrying me more and more with her steadily creeping ever higher blood pressure as well as all the other things that all pointed to her facing delivering the babies sooner rather than later, which meant that we were going to be dealing with premature babies, a sick mother and if the worst outcome happens, a devastated Jasper. We needed all the help we could get, no matter how scary she might be.

**Jpov**

She keeps calling me, "Puppy". I have no idea why she is calling me that, really don't care. She has been stuffing me full of food all day and she even made cookies! She can call me whatever she wants as long as she makes cookies. Bella rubbed my back for me, and when everyone left for a little while, she rubbed something else for me too and that was pretty damn nice as well. Its like its my birthday or something. We have just been laying up here in the bed all day long talking and sleeping and occasionally watching the babies move around underneath her skin. That is pretty damn cool, especially when I put my hand on her stomach and one of them pushes back against it. Its like they know I am here.

"Puppy, have you had any more milk or would you like some sweet tea with your steak?"

"May I please have some sweet tea with my steak?" I don't even have to turn on the charm with her, she just smiles at me and yells at Emmett.

"Emmett, make sure you make enough sweet tea, and don't be over-sugaring it, we want tea, not syrup"

Bella is giggling against me as we try to pretend we aren't enjoying this just a little more than we should.

"Your sister is soo cool! Do you think we could keep her? Maybe you guys could be sister wives or something?"

She snorts and then laughs. "Jasper, sweetie, you wanna know why she calls you, "Puppy"? Wait til you see Marcus. You will get a better idea then of what I mean when I say you aren't the type of fella Rose would consider marrying, but im sure she would love having you around anyway."

Now, what the hell does that mean? Not her type? Really? I can turn on the charm and be everyone's type in a heartbeat.

"Hey, you guys…Carlisle said you could come out and eat at the table with us if you keep it calm and mellow, so why don't you wander on out here?"

"Okay Em, Help me give your mom a hand up will you?"

"Hey, better yet. Uncle Marcus! Can you come here and carry mom?"

Carry Bella? What the hell? OH. MY. GOOD. LORD. I think this puppy just piddled in the floor.


	24. Chapter 24

Oh man! That is some funny shit! Poor puppy. Marcus has that effect on pretty much every man when they first see him. They aren't sure if they should fish or cut bait, so mostly they just stand there and squeak. Marcus is used to it, he doesn't even react anymore. I like to tease him that he's just soo damn big that it takes a while for the reaction to go from his brain to his fists, otherwise he would hurt a lot more fellas, but in all fairness, puppy wouldn't even register as a fly to him. He's big and brown and in Texas, they weren't quite sure what to make of him til he played a few years of pro-football for them, after that they were in all kinds of love with him. He's quiet too, preferring to listen and watch over constantly run his mouth. I liked that about him from the get go. it's a damn shame he cant make babies because he would make some pretty ones, but we have managed to handle life just with each other quite well. He's pretty fond of Emmett, I think because they are both giants, but he enjoys coaching and being around kids, so maybe being up here around Em more and Bellas kids will be good for both of us.

"Hey man, I'm Mark. Nice to meet you"

"Uh…Nice to meet you too, Sir"

"Hey Bella, You hungry? I know I am. Lets do this."

"Its really not necessary, I can still walk, you know!"

"Bella, It would really be better if you limited it as much as possible and if he's willing to carry you, you should let him."

"Dammit Carlisle! This is soo embarrassing. Okay Mark, just don't hurt yourself. I weigh a damn ton."

**Jpov**

What the hell is it with this family? I swear by all that is holy, that mans hand is bigger than my whole head! When he walked through the bedroom door he had to duck and turn a little sideways. I know im small, but damn…

"Sugar, don't be scared, he's big but he's just a big ole sweetheart. He's a local from up in this neck of the woods, so he's been meaning to thank you for getting Bella knocked up and forcing me to want to move to be near her. I ought to want to kick you, though, now I have to go over to someplace on the coast where it rains all the time in the next week and meet his cousins. The salty rain is not kind to my hair!"

"I'm sorry ma'am. When my hair is not all buzzed off its pretty frizzy in the rain too."

I had no idea what else to say. I was still in awe of the giant that had just left the room carrying my woman and children like they didn't even weigh as much as a bag of sugar.

"Come on puppy, its time to eat dinner and if we wait too long Em and Marcus will eat it all."

**Bpov**

Poor Jasper, he looked like he was afraid Marcus was going to eat him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Marks the nicest, most gentle hearted man next to Carlisle and Charley I have ever met. He's the perfect compliment to my sister and I adore him. I always swore I would never sell my truck to anyone but him, and it was for a reason, because I knew he would respect it and honor the memory that came with it. His father had been tribal police who had died in the line of duty, and he understood all to well the pain of losing someone like that. I was surprised when he and Rose got together, he was a jock and she never went for that type at all, preferring the intellectual, scientist type, but when he was able to keep up with her in just about any topic she cared to discuss, she was sold and they quickly became inseparable. She never even wavered when it was discovered that he was infertile, if they couldn't adopt, they would just borrow.

"Right here is good, Mark. Thank you very much."

"Not a problem, Bella. You aren't heavy at all. Are you sure you are packing 3 around in there? They must be mini sized or something."

"Well, honey , you have met their daddy so you can see they aint got too much to build on."

"Hey! Don't go picking on my man!"

"Bella, I'm not picking on him, merely pointing out the obvious. You need to feed him better, before he blows away in the wind."

**Mpov**

Whoa. Poor dude. He's so screwed and just doesn't realize it yet. Rosie has adopted him. I aint gonna be daddy to a grown assed man, but she will want me to keep an eye on him and make sure he's doing okay. Poor dude looks like he needs a few months of training camp with the teams chefs feeding the type of diet I used to eat. Emmett looks like he's doing okay. That's a good boy. He reminds me a lot of me when I was his age. He's trying to be the dad and the man of the house and a boy all at once. Its lucky he's had these two gay fellas around. They are okay. The young ones a little weird, and if he checks out my ass again I'm gonna say something, but they have done okay by Bella and Emmett.

Its nice to be back up here in the homeland. I loved Texas, but I was pretty tired of all the heat. It will be good for Rose to be around babies and to help out Bella, by the looks of things she could use a hand and maybe I can help out a little too. I had a cousin who was special. He died when he was 12, but I remember he was a sweet kid.

"Okay everyone, who is saying grace?"

"Jasper? You want to lead this one?"

"Uh…yes ma'am"

**Jpov**

Everybody is staring at me. I have not lead the blessing since I was last at home. I don't even know if everyone here is of the faith. I don't want to offend anyone.

"May I help, Jasper?"

Oh thank God. "Of Course, Carlisle"

Oh wow, that was beautiful. I never would have thought he would have had that in him.

"I minored in religion. If I hadn't become a doctor I was considering becoming a priest, but there were some obvious issues."

That's a damn shame because as good as of a doc as he is, that made chills run up my spine and Bella looks like she's about to tear up.

"Thank you Carlisle, that was very beautiful.

"All right everyone, lets eat!"

Goodness! I'm soo full I don't think I can move. That steak was soo damn good I couldn't help myself. I ate it all and then gnawed on the bone until Eddie laughed at me and called me, 'Pup" himself. I swear, if that nickname sticks I will not be happy, but right now I am too full to care. Even Bella laid waste to what was put in front of her.

She's looking really happy to have her sis up here, and I don't blame her. it's a good thing. I'm glad she's here too. We needed help.

"All right ya'll, Ed, Em? You two are on sink and dishwasher. Carlisle? Will you help Marcus get Bella resettled in bed? Jasper? You help me clear the table and we will get lined out for tomorrow."

Damn! She does not mess around. Men scatter and jump as she begins picking things up and heading to the kitchen with them. Marcus shrugs and then picks Bella up as she sighs in dismay. "Well, it was nice seeing the outside world for a little while."

Carlisle makes sympathetic noises as he grabs his doctor bag, walking into the room behind her. I'm glad I'm staying out for a bit and I just imagine Marcus is going to come shooting out of there pretty quick. Oh yup, there he is, heading to the door to go load up the grill. Bella must be getting checked again.

**Bpov**

"You know Carlisle, as often as you have your hands up in there, it might just invalidate your gay claim."

Doesn't even faze him. He's so used to my grumpy comments at this point that he doesn't even react.

"Bella, you are at a 3 now. I'm afraid we are going to have to really consider the fact that you just aren't going to make it much longer with this pregnancy, your blood pressure is steadily creeping up as well. I don't want you to be surprised if they decide to admit you to the hospital when you go in for more testing, and things may happen pretty quickly after that. You need to be prepared, and we need to prepare Jasper. Every day on the inside counts for his son and it may be a rough ride."

I knew this was coming. A mother just knows. I've been more restless feeling lately and just feeling like something isn't right, so its really not a big shock to me.

"My sis will take care of things here. What's important is keeping these babies healthy. Do you think putting me in the hospital will buy him some time?"

"I don't know Bella, it might and it will allow him to be monitored closely so if there is a problem with the babies getting distressed, we can move quickly to get them out and into the Nicu where we can manage them as best we can. You have made it to the 30th week, that is amazing for someone your age with triplets. I am very proud of you, but with the blood pressure and the continued dilation, I just think its time we consider that you need to be in the hospital so you can be managed, I just want you to be prepared when you go in later this week for the tests, you are probably going to be getting admitted.

"Well, at least I will be able to warn Jasper and have him ready so he doesn't freak out, Rose being here will be good for him too. I don't want him trying to stay up there with me constantly, he needs to be taking better care of himself and she will make sure he is getting looked after until we are all home again.

Sure enough. Things happened damn fast. My blood pressure didn't just get a little higher, it went sky high and next thing I knew people were moving quickly around me and machines were going off with all kinds of alarms. Poor Jasper looked like he was about to have need of a gurney himself.

"Puppy! Focus! Now is not the time for you to turn tail. Hold her hand and just pay attention to her and stay out of the way as best you can. Carlisle? Will they let us both in with her?"

"Ill see what I can do Rose, but you are going to have to stay next to him and up out of the way."

"Carlisle, that wont be a problem I will just be there for support and to help."

"Come on people, we have to go. You two follow this nurse and she will show you where to get changed."

**Jpov**

"Changed" I get much more changed and I wont know myself anymore. Rose is holding my hand and dragging me along like I'm a kid afraid of getting a shot. I think I'm afraid of much worse things, but I'm glad she's here, except she's taking her shirt off! Oh no!

"Jasper! Quit staring at my tits and get undressed, you need to put these scrubs on right now!"

Oh, okay. That makes sense.

"Jasper! Where the hell are your drawers? Oh good Lord I did not need to see that."

**Rpov**

Well that was unexpected and something me and sis will be discussing another day, but what the hell is wrong with the boy? He is acting like he's being drug to an execution.

"Puppy? Jasper? What is wrong? Honey, look at me. Its okay to be scared. I'm scared. I'm scared for my sister, for my nieces and nephew and for you, but we have to believe its going to be okay. If you don't want to watch them cut her, just look at her face and talk to her, she will be awake and able to talk to you. I will be right next to you. It will be okay. We will get through this and you will finally meet your kids."

He's not looking too steady on his feet right now, I guess I am going to have to go old school on him.

"Jasper Whitlock! You will man up and be in there for my sister and your kids without passing out or puking or I swear by all that is holy, I will put to use all the skills I gained in 4 years of Future Farmers of America on you, and my specialty was raising STEERS! Now lets GO!"


	25. Chapter 25

**Jpov**

Its too soon. They cant be doing this. Hes not ready. Im not ready. They are gonna cut her? I didn't sign on to see her get gutted like a damn fish. She made me go to some of them classes with her and watch some videos so I would have an idea of what to expect, but she didn't tell me I was going to have to be in there when they gutted her.

Why is Rose yelling at me? OUCH! OUCH! I am pretty damn sure that qualifies as assault! My arm aint supposed to bend that way! FUCK!

"WOMAN! LET ME GO!"

"You listen here pup! You are going to stand right here next to my sisters and you are going to talk to her and you are going to be here when these babies come out. If you try to move towards that door, I will take a scalpel away from one of them docs and you will be gelded before you make it to the exit. Do you understand me?"

"Uh, yes Rose. I understand you. I wasn't going to leave. I just have a thing against knives. Its kinda a phobia."

"Hey Jasper, is Rose giving you a hard time?"

"No Bella, she's just trying to make sure I am paying attention."

'Well, I think you guys need to find another way to do it because everyone is staring at you."

And they were. The doc and the nurses had briefly stopped all their preparations when I was frog marched in with my arm twisted up behind my back and they were staring at me like I was a recalcitrant mutt trying to make my escape from a chain.

"Sorry about that. Just had a moment where I needed some reminding of what my goal was and coach had to help me."

"Folks? If you don't mind we are kind of in the middle of something here. Could you please take your places and make sure you are out of the way? Bella? Do you feel that?"

"Feel What?"

'Okay, so you are good and numb. Everybody ready? Daddy? I don't know if you are going to be able to cut all the cords or not, but I will do what I can depending on how they and momma are doing."

"Uhh..don't worry about it. Just make sure they are okay."

"Rose? don't you get any pictures of my bits and pieces or I will kick your ass when I am up and around again."

"Oh don't worry about that, I don't even want to go there. Im strictly here for the little ones."

"Okay, I'm extracting the uterus."

"Wait…he's what? What the fuck is that? Oh My God that's her…"

"Jasper?"

**Rpov**

Son of a bitch! He hit the floor with quite a crash. Lucky he didn't take out the instruments on his way down. I guess there is nothing to do for him except leave him be and hope he wakes up in time to meet his kids before they are whisked off to the NICU. Maybe a kick to the ass will help. Dammit! Guess not. He's going to cause me to have to move and drag him out of the way isn't he? Poor puppy, he's really not used to the grittier side of life is he?

"Jasper? Puppy? Come on honey, wake up! You are going to miss your son."

**Jpov**

Wait…what is she talking about? Ouch! My ass hurts. What the hell happened to my ass?

"What did I miss?"

"They are just starting to pull out one of the babies. Hurry up and get up here. Come on, change your gloves and pay attention."

"Okay, First out is a little girl! Lookee here! Oh look at you sweetheart."

A tiny little being covered in goo and blood, flailing about and lying briefly limp in the doctors arms until he suctioned out her nose and mouth, was displayed to Jasper and Rose. She was perfectly formed and after her mouth and nose were cleared, she as laid up on Bella briefly so the cord could be clamped and cut and her mother could see her.

"Oh hello beautiful! Tears were running down Bella and Roses cheeks as the baby was quickly taken away to an incubator to be warmed and measured and prepared for the Nicu.

The second baby, also a girl, emerged in much the same way. She was slightly bigger than her sister and she began yelling her outrage at her treatment in a voice that was barely louder than that of an highly annoyed kitten. Jasper couldn't resist and as she briefly lay on Bella's chest, he reached over and touched her back and said, "Its okay baby girl daddy's here." She quieted and lay there until a nurse swooped in and took her away to an incubator next to her sister.

"Okay, here comes the last one. He's hiding from me. Not wanting to come out and join the party. Come here little fella."

The doctors hands finally emerged with the smallest of all three of the babies. It hardly seemed as if he was real. His upper body was easily held in one of the doctors hands and he lay limply as the doctor quickly suctioned his nose and mouth and then worked to stimulate him to breathe. No one in the room made a sound as the doctor worked on the tiny baby, feverishly trying to stimulate him to respond to being in the world when suddenly a sound like that of a small kitten was heard.

"There we go! Its about time young man!" The sound increased gradually in volume as the doctor clamped and cut he cord and as he lifted the baby boy up so he could be seen, laughter rang though the delivery room as he peed all over the doctor and everyone in the close vicinity.

"That's my boy!" Jasper was openly crying as was Rose and Bella. Jasper hugged Rose and bent down and kissed Bella and told her, "Thank you"."Go see your babies, im not going anywhere for the time being."

Jasper walked over to where the nurses were working on his babies, measuring and weighing and tagging them like the results of a weekend hunt. They were all soo damn small! His daughters were a fairly respectable 3.8 and 3.5lbs each, but his son? His son was only 3 lbs even and barely 13 inches long while his sisters were 15 and 16 inches.

"Oh little dude! You are soo tiny! Good thing you got all the hair. Can I touch him?" Jasper was trying to stay out of the way of the nurses who were working over his son, but he was pulled to be close to him as well as his baby girls and he cringed when he saw the nurse run a thin tube up his sons nose and suction even more goo out of him, inciting him to begin crying even harder.

"Yes, you can touch him, but we may have to take him to the NICU pretty soon, he's having a bit of difficulty remembering to breathe on his own so we might have to support him."

"Oh lil dude, Come on. You can do this. Hang in there." Jasper stared at his children, his daughters with their identical features looking like tiny, doll-like bookends with perfect little fingers and toes and peach fuzzed skulls. His son was tinier with a head full of dark hair that stood up all over the place in wild corkscrews, his eyes looked almost Asian in form, and his nose was more pug than that of his sisters, but other than that and his over all tininess, Jasper couldn't tell what made him soo different.

"Sir? We have to take him. He's having a more difficult time. Once he's stabilized in the NICU you can come see him again, Okay? We will take good care of your babies."

"Cant I go with him?"

"No sir. We need to move quickly and there are some places you wouldn't be allowed in. We have to go now, Sir. Please?"

"Jasper, come on. Let them go. We will go see him in just a little bit." Rose had come up behind him and gently put her arms around him. "They will be fine and he will be well taken care of. Come on, they are going to be finishing up with Bella and getting her moved, so we need to go to the waiting room now."

Jasper stood and stared as his children were hustled from the room, the monitor on his sons bed going off and as the nurses hustled it out of the room at a rapid pace.

"Come on puppy, lets go find our clothes and get you some food. They will be fine. Sis, we will see you after while."

"Rose, take good care of him."

"You know I will."

**Rpov**

'Did you see them? Did you see how perfect they are? They are absolutely perfect!" Jasper was almost ranting as we changed clothes in the dressing room. His eyes were shining and his face was as flushed as the rest of him as he hunted for his drawers.

"Jasper? Puppy?" hes still rooting around in the pile of stuff on the bench, buck naked and ranting on and on about the babies seeming to forget that I am a woman and not Bella.

"JASPER! Would you listen to me for a minute?"

"Huh" Oh he really didn't need to turn around. Does the boy have no self-consciousness at all? Of course, if he doesn't, I can kinda see why…

"Jasper, You didn't have any underwear on when we changed to go in there, so would you please put your britches on and put that thing away. I think its done enough damage lately."

Oh, there we go. Now he has realized who he is naked in front of. Interesting where all he turns red. That's soo cute! He's trying to cover himself and find his pants at the same time? Wonder if Bella would get mad if I snapped a quick pic? That one is going up on Facebook after I explain to Marcus so he doesn't kill him.

"What? Why would I take a picture of you, Puppy? Oh no. I was just looking at the pictures I got of the babies. Ill send them to your Iphone as soon as we get a spare minute. Why don't you finish getting dressed while I go out and let everyone know what's going on?"

"That sounds good. Ill be out in a minute."

Everybody in the waiting room looked like they were on tenterhooks as I walked through the door.

"They are here, doing good and Bella is doing fine. I have some pictures!"

Talk about being mobbed! "Hang on just a minute! If you will let me I will send them all to your phones, just let me sit down and sort them out. Eddie, get out of my lap! I cant think with you breathing down my neck! Oh this stupid thing is giving me fits!"

"But Rose! I want to see! Hang on, I can do it faster, let me see the phone!"

"Oh dammit! Here! Do it then. Don't send the one of Jasper though, that ones just for Bella when she is feeling better."

"Oh Jeeze! You did take a picture! I knew it!" Jasper had just come walking into the waiting room as the pictures were arriving in everyone's phones.

"Oh my goodness! They are soo tiny and cute! How did my brother get all the hair?"

"Uh, Rose? I sent those to all your contacts, is that okay?"

"What do you mean you sent it to all my contacts? Even my twitter and face book?"

"Uh, yeah?"

'I guess that's okay. Wait…did you send ALL those pictures?"

"Yes."

"Including the one of Jasper?"

"Uhh Yes."

"Well, I guess momma and daddy and meemaw and pawpaw will have a real good idea who the father of their grandbabies is after they see that. As for Pastor Jack, I guess he will just pray a little extra hard for us all."

Oh and here come the first of the phone calls.

"Hello momma! Yes, she is doing fine. Yes they are doing fine. Yeah, that was him. Uh huh, me too. No, Marcus likes him. Yeah, I agree that was a bit of a surprise. No. Oh, momma, got more calls coming in, looks like meemaw is calling. Can you call Pastor Jack and apologize to him for me? A friend sent those out and that one of him was supposed to be just for Bella. Yes. We will send more later. No momma, I am not sending you more like that. Mom! He's Bellas! Eww! I will talk to you later!"

Okay, now I have to go bleach my brain.

**Jpov**

Where are my babies? What is going on with my son? Someone needs to come out here right the hell now and tell me. I cant see a damn thing through this little window in the doorway.

"Jasper? What do you want to eat? Im sending Em and Eddie after some food. You need to eat something so you wont pass out on your babies when you get to go back and see them."

"I don't care Carlisle, just anything will do."

Who can think of food right now? I have no idea what they are doing to my kids. No one is telling me anything. I don't even know where they are. Why isn't anyone telling me anything? What the hell is going on?

"Jasper? Jasper? Sit down son. Slow your breathing down. You are going to give yourself a panic attack if you don't calm down.

"Where are my kids? What are they doing to them? How come no one is telling me anything?"

"Son, they need to get them admitted into the NICU and run some basic tests as well as manage any issues your son may have. Just relax and sit here with Mark and Rose and I will go see what I can find out, okay?"

'Okay, thank you."

**Cpov**

The Nicu is one of the most tightly controlled places in the entire hospital. Babies who are at their weakest and most vulnerable are admitted there for management and sometimes the end results are not the happiest. The nurses there are the best of the best and often the most dedicated amongst their profession, taking every fight for a tiny life to heart and bearing every loss as a weight that marks them hard.

" Dr. Cullen here, I'm wanting to get an update on the Whitlock triplets?" the nurse sounded harried over the intercom but she admitted me to the antechamber where I scrubbed up and donned a mask and gown.

"Dr. Cullen, we have them over here. The twin girls are doing fine and seem to have no immediate issues other than those typical of being premature. The little boy is the one who is really struggling. He went into respiratory distress as we were bringing them down and we have him incubated so we can support him better. He's very flaccid and while the initial ultrasound has revealed no cardiac complications, he is slightly cyanotic and he seems to forget to breathe. He also has a very weak suck reflex and his initial Apgars were low as well. Much of this is typical of Downs, but I anticipate this little guy has a hard fight ahead of him. We are going to run and NG tube for him later and as soon as we can find a vein on him, we will be pumping some antibiotics into him, he has an infection working as well that is contributing to the problems. The next 24 hours will tell us how this is going to go."

'Can his father come in and see him? He's very concerned and wants to be here for his children. The mother is still in recovery, but the dad is pacing a hole in the waiting room floor."

"Yes, as a matter of fact it might be good for the little guy to have some skin to skin contact for warmth and its just a good thing for them to have as much time as possible to bond, in case…"

She didn't need to finish her thoughts, I knew what she was thinking . The little boy, who as yet was unnamed because of Bella's insistence that it would jinx them, might not make it the 24 hours and the precious moments could never be recovered so Jasper needed to be able to have as much time as possible with him.

**Jpov**

This place is like a damn spaceship! All the lights are blue and weird and there are beeps and whirs and other sounds that are confusing. I think my hands are the cleanest they have ever been in my whole entire life and even Rose about scrubbed the paint off her nails when they told her all the things they were trying to prevent. Im glad she came with me. I forgive her for the picture, I don't think she meant anything by it, and besides, in the grand scheme of things it's the least of my worries what her family and friends think of me.

"Okay, papa. You sit down in the rocking chair and unbutton your shirt for me."

"Say what?"

"Unbutton your shirt. I'm going to put him against your chest to help him stay warm and so he can feel your heart beat. It helps to keep them calm and its good for bonding."

"Oh, okay." Oh my God. Soo many tubes and things coming off of my boy. What the hell? Why is there a needle in his scalp? They shaved a place on his head?"

'Jasper, don't you cry! You are getting tears on him and making me cry. He's going to be okay. You just gotta believe it and talk to him. Tell him how you feel and how he's gotta fight."

He's wiggling against me and I snuggle him closer and breathe in the smell that is just baby. His entire butt and half of his back fits in the palm of my hand and his little feet are as small as my thumbs. I have never held anything so tiny and fragile in my entire life other than a kitten, and even the kitten felt more sturdy. Rocking back and forth talking and telling him about all the things we are going to do when he gets out of here we pass the time until they kick me and Rose out.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N True Facts-Nurses really get pissed off when you get up and go walking around after an emergency c-section, even if you are looking for your kid. Dont do it,besides, your guts will feel like they are falling out. Merconium is truly gnarly, all fathers should have to deal with with diaper. Large, angry, man-killing boobs can be bigger than a baby. Hope you are still enjoying this. Im working on a new one that is not near as happy. **

**Bpov**

Okay, is someone going to come tell me anything sometime soon? I mean, not that it really matters, afterall I am only the MOTHER of the children. I haven't seen anyone in hours and hours and no one even came to visit me. Are my kids okay? Where the hell is my doctor? This is such bullshit. I am done laying here waiting to find out what is going on. I am worried about my babies, I need to know if they are okay and why no one is talking to me. They put the damn call button out of reach so screw it, I'm getting up. I started being able to feel my legs hours ago, so I know if im careful I can walk, I just have to get all the damn tubes and crap situated.

"Oh my GOD! What the hell do you think you are doing! Can I get some help down here? Get me a wheel chair! Ms. Black! Are you insane? You cannot be up walking around!"

"Well, No one came in and its been hours and I want to know what is going on with my babies. I need to see my children."

"Oh my word. You poor thing. We were just finishing up shift change and I was going to come talk to you. But since you are already halfway there, lets just take a quick trip down and you can see them for a little bit."

Finally. I finally get to see my babies after all we have been through. My baby girls look so perfect and so oddly alike I can tell its going to be an adventure telling them apart as they get older. I guess we are going to have to name them now. I was going to suggest Emily and Maggie to Jasper. I like the traditional nature of them and the fact they were easily pronounceable would make the easy for our son when he got older to handle. Our son…oh child of my heart. He does not look good. So tiny and covered in tubes and tape as well as all kinds of monitors and leads.

"How is he doing?"

"He is up and down. We have him intubated because he just kept forgetting to breathe and he was getting cyanotic. Hopefully we will be able to pull that in a day or two, but right now he has so many other issues going on, we wanted to give him one less thing to fight. We ran an NG tube to support him nutritionally with a high calorie formula, but if you are able to provide any breast milk, it would really help him out, especially from the first few days."

"How would that work? One of my breasts is bigger than him."

"We can set you up with a pump and when you get some, it would just be bottled."

"I will give it a try, anything for him. Has his father been in to see him?"

"Oh yes! His daddy was in here from right after he arrived til we threw him and his aunt out just a little over an hour ago. They were soo sweet together. He rocked and talked to him and I think little Charlie has his daddy totally wrapped around his tiny little finger along with his sisters. Do they have names too?"

"Charlie? He is calling him Charlie?"

"Well, he said he had to talk to you first but that such a brave and strong fighter needed a brave and strong name and he thought that from what he had heard, that one fit."

Oh. Wow. I just don't know what to think about that. I don't know what Em will think about that. I'm touched that he would do that, but I'm conflicted as well. Charley died. He died and left me all alone. Is it a good idea to give this little boy his name? I will have to talk to Em about it and see how he feels, and maybe if he is okay with it, we will see.

"Yes, We are thinking about going with Emily and Maggie for them, but I haven't gotten to talk to the dad yet, so everything is still up in the air."

"Okay , its time to get you back to your room. You really shouldn't even be up yet.

"We should be able to release the girls to the standard nursery in the next day or so and then they will be able to come out to see you in the room as well as have more visitors outside of immediate family. Charlie is going to be with us a little longer than that but your nurses will be able to get you down to see him hopefully fairly frequently."

"I'm ready to go back now. Thank you for taking such good care of them."

Jasper had been in to see them all afternoon? I was glad to hear that. I wished he had been in to see me, but I understood. He was worried sick about that little boy, and honestly, looking at the poor little thing with all the tubes and on him, his little arms strapped to splints so he didn't displace things, blind folded so the lamps didn't hurt his eyes, he looked like th most pitiful thing alive and that had to be traumatic for Jasper to see, I just hope he remembered he had two little girls who needed him as well.

**Jpov**

Tired doesn't even begin to describe it. When me and Em got home I don't think either one of us said more than two words before we fell into bed and died.

What the hell? Why is my phone going crazy? Oh shit! My momma is calling me at 4:00 in the morning? Why are there over a hundred text messages on my phone?

"Momma? What's wrong? Is everybody okay? I was going to call you about the babies as soon as I got out of bed in a few hours. You what? Saw what? Where? No momma, I did not do that on purpose. Yes momma, I do have more tattoos. No momma not there. Momma, there is something I have to tell you about my little boy, he's special. No momma, I know all daddy's think their baby's are special, he has Downs Syndrome and he's in the intensive care unit. Oh momma, don't cry. Please don't cry. Hey dad. Yes sir. Yes, I am very sorry about that. I didn't know that was being done. No sir. Sir? I think she's crying because I told her my little boy is in the intensive care unit. He's in rough shape because he has Downs Syndrome and he was born too early. Yes sir. Yes I have been praying hard. Yes sir I know I should have called you earlier so you could have gotten everyone praying for him sooner, but I was with him in case he…No, you are right, I wont think that way. I have faith. Yes sir. Hey momma. I love you too. Yes ma'am. I don't know what we are calling the girls yet, Bella and I haven't been able to talk about it, but we are calling my son Charlie. It was my idea, she doesn't even know yet. Yes ma'am. I will make sure someone is at the airport to get you, just text me the details. Yes ma'am, its clean. Okay momma, I will see you soon. Love you."

Oh fuck my life. Roses picture of me had hit face book and twitter and then some friend of hers who happened to be a fan, had recognized me and retweeted it to her followers and so on and so on. According to momma I am all over every social networking site, fan site and more than a few porn sites! How the hell mom knows I'm on porn sites I don't even want to know, but apparently I am trending on twitter in a few places, and people have been calling the house trying to find me. I guess I should start wading through some of these messages to see what the hell is going on before things get too crazy.

Oh hell.

Can you say, "Closing the barn door after that horses have escaped?" I have messages from all kinds of people I haven't talked to in months. I guess its good to know that whole gay rumor is finally put to rest, but I am not really thrilled to have my business out there for the whole world to ogle, its bad enough my parents have seen it front and center on their face book first thing in the morning. The fans now know I have kids. Many of the comments on my long ignored twitter account are positive and supportive, but there are a few that just piss me right the hell off. I'm going to ignore those. I have to ignore those because if I feed the trolls they will just enjoy the attention. Maybe I should throw my fans a bone though and send them out a little message to let them know that while I appreciate the thoughts, I really want to be left the hell alone?

I'm a dad! Best feeling in the world! Who knew love could be less than 2 ft tall and weigh less than 15lbs?#Found my calling.

Well, that seems to have had the opposite effect, but I have been dying to talk about my babies. Maybe sending out the latest picture of him and his sisters will make people happy and get the to forget the naked shot.

Oh hell! Who is at the door at this hour?

"Jasper I am soo sorry!"

"Oh hey, Rose."

"I had no idea it was going to go everywhere! I was just going to send it to my sister!"

"Rose, don't worry about it. I've already heard from my mom and dad and the worst is over. They are coming up for a visit though."

"Oh, really? When will they be here?"

'This afternoon. Someone will need to pick them up at the airport."

"Do you think Carlisle or Eddie will be able to do it? If they cant I will get Marcus to go get them. When will you be ready to go back to the hospital?"

"I was just getting ready to get into the shower. Could you start some coffee for me and Em? It would sure be appreciated after the chewing out I got from my mom."

"Puppy, you go get your shower and Ill wake Em and make you boys some breakfast."

'Thanks Rose, I really appreciate it."

I couldn't be mad at her. It was just an accident. I had done some of the same crap and had it backfire on me. It wasn't like it was the end of the world. All I cared about was my kids getting better and coming home and Bella getting out of the hospital and coming home. I missed the thing we had, whatever it was.

"Hey Bella! You look deflated."

"Hey you, I was wondering if you were gonna come see me today."

"I wanted to come see you yesterday, but they threw us out after we saw the babies. They said you were sleeping and we weren't allowed to wake you up."

"I got to see the babies last night. So, you want to call him Charlie?"

"From everything you and Em have told me, I think that would be a perfect name for him. Em said he is okay with it if you are, and I really like the names you picked for the girls, so could be call it good?"

"Well, I guess Charlie it is. But not Chuck, never Chuck. I hate that name. So if we can agree to never call him Chuck I will agree with Charlie."

"I agree with you. We wont ever call him that."

"So is there anything exciting going on?"

"Well, Rose took a picture of me when we were changing into our scrubs to come watch the babies get born and Eddie accidentally sent it along with all the other pictures to everyone in her address book, including her Twitter and face book. The picture of me got retweeted and went viral. My mom called me at 4 o'clock this morning to tell me she had seen it on her face book page and now her and my dad are going to be here this afternoon."

"Oh wow."

"Yeah. Pretty exciting, huh?"

"How did you get to see the babies? Did they bring them to you or something?"

'No, I got tired of waiting on the damn nurses so I started walking down there. I got caught by my nurse and she freaked out, but she got a wheel chair and took me down to see them for a little bit. Charlie is fighting so hard."

"I know he is. He's a tough little guy, just like his momma."

"I'm pumping breast milk for him. They said it would really help him a lot, so I'm doing what I can. He's got an infection and last night he was pretty jaundiced."

"He will be okay, Bella. He's tough. We gotta believe it."

"I do honey, I do"

"Well, Im going to go on down and see how they are doing this morning, Rose said she was coming in to see you in about an hour, so be prepared. Don't give her too hard of a time, she feels pretty bad about the whole picture thing, it was supposed to be just for you."

"Doesn't she know I have seen enough of it to last me a lifetime?"

Jasper laughed as he walked out the door, "I don't know. You would think. Em is on his way in with donuts, so enjoy. Maybe he and Eddie saved you a maple bacon."

The girls were gone. Nobody had said it would happen that fast! "Where the hell are my daughters?"

"Mr. Whitlock, please calm down. This is a good thing. Your daughters are in the step down unit. They are doing much better and don't require the intensity of care that your son does. They are breathing on their own and eating well and maintaining their body temps pretty well. If they continue that pattern over the next few days, they may even be moved to the regular nursery. It's a good thing."

A good thing? How was it a good thing? That meant he was now all alone in the ICU. He looked even smaller today. They had him strapped down to all kinds of little boards so he couldn't move his little arms and he looked like a pin cushion from all the places he had been stuck.

"What is all this stuff on him?"

"His breathing is still being supported, but we are trying to wean him off of it gradually. He has the NG tube for his meals but once we pull his breathing tube, we want to start working with him on his suck reflex. We were just getting ready to change his diaper and clean him up a little bit, so you have perfect timing, you can give us a hand with that."

What the hell was that? How can something so small and tiny and sweet produce something so nasty? It was everywhere! Black and sticky like tar and it seemingly materialized out of nowhere. I know it was on my shirt and hands, and by the way the nurse was laughing, I'm willing to bet its on my cheek too! He peed all over me and looked at me like I was the biggest dumbass in the world until I got his diaper back on his tiny little butt. Trying to hold him is like trying to hold a transformer, but I cuddle him up to my poo stained shirt and tell him how much I love him and need him to grow and do well. Its easy to lose track talking to him. He listens to me and his little grunts are the sweetest sounds in the world.

"Jasper? Jasper? Hey! There are some other people here who want to see that little boy, so if you are done being greedy, could you share?"

Oh good Lord! I lost track of time and fell asleep. I guess I have no choice but to hand him over to his grandma and hope for the best.

**Cpov**

Oh good lord this is not how I wanted to be reuniting with my sis. She's got a good heart but she's a little more old fashioned than I am. This could go either way, with them rejecting Charlie and not wanting anything to do with him or they could rally behind him and support Jasper and his children unconditionally. I know they weren't really happy with Jaspers lifestyle and she was pretty unhappy with the circumstances of the pregnancy, but they were proud of him for standing up and doing the right thing, as well as being there for Bella, but I didn't know he hadn't told them that Charlie had Downs until this morning. That is a lot to take in in just a few hours. She may only be a few years older than me, but she always makes me feel like I am five years old.

"Carlisle! How good to see you. Where is Edward?"

"He wanted to make sure he had all the ingredients to make you the perfect dinner so I think he was out scouting all the Whole Foods on this side of the Willamette. You know how he likes to spoil you and Bill."

Eddie adored my sis and her husband. Ever since they had treated him as one of the family the first time we went to visit as a couple, he had been smitten and it had only grown over the years. They seemed to have a mutual admiration society going on and half the time she called she didn't even talk to me anymore, she talked to him.

"How is my son holding up?"

"He's doing okay. I've tried to prepare him for the worst case scenario but he doesn't want to hear it. He is determined that Charlie is going to be just fine and that there are no problems. I don't think he quite realizes the depth of the situation."

"Carlisle, maybe he does but he just has faith that its all going to work out. The boy could use some faith in himself and others for once. How is Bella doing?"

"She is recovering well, and should be allowed home in the next couple of days."

"Well that's good, as long as she doesn't try to overdo it. Now, where is my son and those babies?"

"Knowing him, he's in with Charlie. That's where he spent most of yesterday after he was born."

"He does realize he has a couple of daughters as well, doesn't he?"

"He does. I think he s just trying to spend every moment he can with Charlie, just in case."

"Carlisle! We aren't going to think that way. Things happen for a reason, but that little boy was sent to him and nothing is going to happen to him."

"Yes Alice. The Nicu is just down here. They only allow in two family members at a time, so Bill, you and I will have to wait outside after I make sure he's in there, okay?"

"Not a problem."

"Oh Carlisle, look at them. I almost didn't recognize my son. He looks like a man holding that poor little mite. He really has changed quite a bit, hasn't he?"

"Yes, Ali, I think he has."

I almost hated to disturb them, they looked so calm and peaceful and the baby was looking a little less yellow from what you could see of him through all the splints and tape and leads. Jasper had something smeared all over his shirt and even a little smudge on his cheek that could only be merconium. While I'm grossed out, im also amused that the nurses let him handle that most dreaded of diaper details, its also a good sign if Charlie had done that just lately and not in utero. Maybe there is some hope after all.

"Jasper? Jasper?


	27. Chapter 27

**Apov**

Well look at this. Such a tiny little thing. His daddy wasn't much bigger when he was born, though he was a whole lot louder. Poor little thing, he's like the runt of the litter puppy, you cant help but to want to love him and protect him. Carlisle tells me that Jasper knew months ago he was going to be different, most likely retarded and disabled in other ways and that he fought for him. I'm proud of my son for that. Didn't expect it, but I am proud of him for it. Oh…look at those eyes. I know he cant really see anything yet, and they might change color on us, but it looks like he's got his daddy's eyes.

"Well, hello there sweet boy. Are you working on wrapping your grandma around your little finger? Well you are doing a fine job of it. That's quite all right, I am more than happy to spoil you rotten, but first off, you have to get better and get out of here so we can spend lots of time together. You don't say? Really? Oh, well I think its pretty funny that your daddy has poo on his cheek too. Be patient with him, he will learn. You get to meet your grandpa next, and I can tell you that he has all kinds of big plans for you. He thinks you boys all have to stick together for some reason, so he's talking some mess about all kinds of boy things, but we will have just as much fun if not more. You better go back to your daddy now so I can go get your grandpa. He will get upset with me and accuse me of being greedy. I love you very much little Charlie, you get well very soon."

"Thank you, momma."

"No need to thank me. I'm going to go get your father. You might want to find a Kleenex, you know he's a crier and you don't want Charlie getting damp."

**Jpov**

You mean damper? Well, I think that means she likes my son.

"Good job, buddy. I think you charmed the socks right off of her. The old man is a little tougher sell when you get older, but hes a sucker for babies, so just lay there and look at him and you will be fine. Try not to pee on him though, he might have a slight problem with that one."

"Hey son, you going to let me hold that baby or am I going to have to get your mother involved?"

'Hey dad. No, just go ahead and sit down and get ready and I will position him for you."

"Son, I know how to hold a baby. I spent plenty of nights holding you."

"Dad, his neck is really weak. You have to support it and watch his breathing tube as well as make sure to not over extend his back."

"Son?"

"Yeah, dad?"

"Trust me. I am not going to hurt my first grand son."

"I'm sorry dad."

"Nothing to be sorry for son. Just hand him to me."

"Well hey there little boy, so you are who all the fuss is about? How is such a small little critter creating such a big commotion? Of course, the same could be said of your daddy. Look at all that hair! My goodness. You get that from my side of the family, I used to have a lot of it til your daddy made it all turn grey and fall out. I will sure enjoy getting to see you and your sisters repay that favor to him. Yes, I will! You are a cute lil booger aren't you? Well, I'm sure that's will come to be a problem down the road too, but you must get your looks from your momma, I never understood what all the fuss was about over your daddy, but then again, I raised his rotten butt. We'll talk more later, I have lots to tell you and we will make sure you know enough to keep him on his toes and out of trouble for years and years."

"Mr. Whitlock?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I need to take Charlie for some more tests. We will be gone a couple of hours, but once we are done I will text you and let you know."

"What are you doing to him?"

"Nothing too bad. We are going to do a brain stem response hearing test as well as an echo cardio gram, and some more blood work. The pediatrician also wanted to get an ultrasound of his liver and the pediatric ophthalmologist is coming in to check his retinas. Its going to be a little busy for him, but nothing too bad and when we are done I'm going to try and give him a little bit of a bath, I think he needs it if your shirt is any indication."

"Uh, yeah…things kinda got in the way."

"Yes sir, they tend to do that."

"Its just all soo tiny."

'Sir, you don't have to explain, I understand. Have you decided if you want him circumcised?"

"Oh my God No! I Mean, How? Its so small! They might cut it off!"

"Sir, I can assure you the doctor is quite capable of handling it, and most fathers want their sons to be like them…" The nurse stopped talking and blushed furiously red as Jasper and his father looked anywhere but at her.

"okay, I will record that as a definite "No" then."

"Everyone's seen it?"

"It was posted in the break room when I came in this morning. I took it down and shredded it and left word that it wasn't appropriate, but there are a few fan girls amongst the floor staff so its made the rounds."

"Oh boy."

"I'm very sorry Mr. Whitlock."

"Its not your fault. My goofy future sister in law took the picture, and a friend sent the pictures in her file to all her friends and family by mistake. Its been an interesting morning already."

"Son, you might want to consider getting him snipped down the road a ways so you are fighting constant issues with teaching him about being clean. Why, I remember the battles with you over…"

"DAD!"

"Oh never mind. Whatever you decide Im sure we will all learn to deal with."

**Jpov**

When this is all over with, I am changing my name and leaving not only the state, but the country as well. I don't think parents ever stop embarrassing you.

"We are going to go see my daughters so we will be in the hospital if you want to just have me paged when he is back from his tests."

"Okay Mr. Whitlock. Enjoy seeing your girls, I hear they are doing great."

The step-down unit is a little less space ship like than the NICU, but its still pretty intimidating. My girls are in an incubator bed together under a big plastic hood and blue lights and they both have I.V.'s as well. The main difference here is that my folks are able to come in with me and see them together and I can touch the girls a little easier than my boy because they don't have quite as many tubes and wires running off of them.

"Mr. Whitlock? Do you have your I.d, band please?"

I show the little nurse my wrist band that has tags on it for all my kids so no one could escape out of the hospital with them without setting off an alarm, and once she is satisfied im me, she starts telling me about them.

"They are doing quite well for as early as they are. We are providing a some support for their lungs with a richer flow of humidified oxygen and we have them under the bili lamps to fight the jaundice. The are on a Behr hugger to help keep them warm because body heat regulation is often a bit of an issue at this size and we are also providing them with antibiotics and fluids through the I.v's. I was just getting ready to try feeding them, so you are actually here at the perfect time."

"Mom? Do you want to feed one of them?"

"You know I do son. Its not like I'm going to get much of a chance once their momma is feeling better."

"As a matter of fact, today's meal is courtesy of their mom. She's being doing a great job of pumping for all the kids and its really helping them out. I imagine we will see weight gains on all of them by the end of the week. Did the doctor tell you that while we would like to see them go home soon, we have to see several things in order for that to happen, they have to be able to regulate their body temperature, breathe without developing cyanosis or apnea, and they have to have gained weight to within range of a normal birth weight proving that they are processing what they are taking in correctly. These little sweeties have a ways to go, but they are trying hard and if all keeps going well, in about a week or so we may be able to transition them to the regular nursery, but the best way you can help them is with lots of Kangaroo care, and daddy, while I know the ladies in the NICU have you doing that with Charlie, if grandma or even auntie wants to help out in here along with you, its all going to help them grow and get stronger. We will start teaching you and your family about caring for them when they are ready to go home."

"Okay, I'm ready for whatever you have to throw at me."

"Well, they have a pretty good rooting and nursing reflex, so they have been feeding okay. You will just need to be careful to burp them and make sure they don't go too fast. Ma'am? Im assuming you have done this before?"

"Its been a decade or two, but yes. I think it will come back to me pretty quick."

"Okay, who wants the big girl? Mom says this is Maggie."

"I think I'll take her if that's okay with you, mom?"

"Sweetheart, they are your babies, you take the lead and tell me."

"Ill take her. I havent gotten to hold them very much."

Feeding my girls was pretty cool. It was almost like having a regular baby, just smaller. I ended up getting puked on a little and of course they needed to be changed.

Yeah…that was not pleasant. Girl parts are a real pain in the ass to deal with, especially with your mom breathing down your neck telling you all the things you are doing wrong. I finally got it done and got their diapers put back on with only a few people stopping by to laugh at me, including Bella, who made it in just in time to miss out on the diaper change.

"Im headed down to see Charlie for a little bit, are you coming?"

"I was just going to walk momma and daddy out so they could go get some dinner and get settled for the evening, but sure."

'Son, we can find our own way out. I've already called Carlisle to come get us so you guys go on ahead. Bella, it was very nice to finally meet you in person. You made some very pretty babies."

"Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to visiting with you when things aren't so chaotic."

"Us too dear. Jasper? Don't stay too late, she needs her rest and Carlisle told us that you do to?"

"Uh huh! He sure does and he is supposed to be eating more than he is. Please help me look after him. I feel terrible that he is so thin and not well kept. I had been doing a much better job before I ended up on bed rest."

"Don't you worry about him, we will make sure he is doing what he is supposed to be doing. You just take care of yourself. We will be back to see you tomorrow and well bring some good food for you."

'Thank you very much, it will be appreciated."

"All right, Ill see you guys in just a bit then. Come on Bella before you tell them all my stories."

She is looking perkier, but oh my goodness, or badness her tits are HUGE! I mean they are like, bad stripper huge!

"Jasper, you are staring at my boobs aren't you?"

"Bella? Can you really blame me? They are the biggest, non-fake tits I have ever seen!"

"They are soo uncomfortable and trying to sleep with them is like trying to sleep with a couple of hot boulders on my chest. Just imagine if your balls swelled up to the size of soccer balls."

"Uh, no! I don't want to."

"I could help you. Come around here and stand in front of the wheelchair. You are just about the right height I could give em a good punch or two."

'Bella, are you being funny?"

"Maybe. Just a little."

"Can I touch them?

" You balls? Jasper, you were touching them just a few minutes ago, it was kinda disturbing."

"No! Your tits! And they itched, all balls itch, it's a fact."

"Not out here in the hallway. Maybe if you are good, when you take me back to my room after we see Charlie, I will let you touch them."

"Whoa…really?"

"You are such a freak. But, yes. Its been awhile, hasn't it? You will owe me soo big though."

"Anything you want."

" Once im healed up? What the hell do you think?"

"Really? I think I might know a guy who could help you out."

" Good, because I will be safe and ready to rock and roll, so no worries about anything breaking again."

"Well, I don't mind what we got out of the last breakage, so its all good."

"One litter at a time, Jasper. One litter at a time, by the way...do you know you have poop on your cheek?"


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N Caring for a special needs child can devour you if you let it. You find that your entire world begins to revolve around that little bundles next breath or that eagerly awaited first word that may not come until long after all their peers are already speaking entire sentences. Even with people all around you, its easy to feel completely alone and if you are a control freak,(not that I would know anything about that…coughbullshitcough), you can damn near kill yourself loving and caring for them.**

Its been weeks. Bella has been home and is gimping around and slowly getting back to running the show and keeping us all in line. Momma and Daddy stayed long enough to see the girls home and through the first couple of terrifying nights at home with babies on apnea monitors and oxygen. It was a blessing an a curse at first and I don't think I slept more than two hours at a stretch, listening to each little gasp and sigh from them.

Maggie gave us the biggest worry. She would get mad and cry until she turned blue in the face and then the alarms would go off. We went through every formula made trying to find one she could tolerate because Bella couldn't breast feed forever. She needed to be on her migraine medication and that stuff was no good for a baby so it was trial and error and lots of getting puked on. Emily was the easy one. She thrived and soon was bigger than her sister and just the smiley happy baby that everyone wanted to hold and play with. I hardly ever saw her because Eddie laid claim to her and most of the time she was gone with him and Rose and Marcus off shopping or just hanging out. I don't think her little ass hit her bed her entire first six months she was home. Carlisle adored Mags and no matter how often she puked on him or screamed at him, he walked her and talked her and sang to her. She was just as spoiled as her sister and I don't know what I would have done without those guys. Em and Bella and I spent every hour possible with Charlie at the hospital, watching and hoping.

"Where the hell is my son?" Not only is he not in his little bed in the step-down unit, his entire bed is gone. Nothing is in its space. Bella and I have seen this happen before, when a little one suddenly took a turn for the worse and coded and died right there in front of us. It was the worst thing I had ever seen in my life. The parents had been shattered and that empty spot in the unit was the saddest place for weeks and weeks.

"WHERE IS MY BOY?"

"Mr. Whitlock, Calm down. He's back up in the NICU, we were just getting ready to call you. He's okay. Please keep your voice down."

Keep my voice down? My son is gone? No one called to tell me they were moving him and I am supposed to stay calm? Em and Bella don't look calm. Bella is a pale as a ghost and Em has tears in his eyes, so I don't think anyone is particularly calm at this moment.

"Sir, if you will follow me the charge nurse will fill you in on the details of why Charlie was moved back up to the NICU."

"Fuck! Did he have a bad night? How come they didn't call?"

"Jasper, they know you need to sleep. There was nothing you could do so they figured they would talk to us about it when we got here."

"Oh there's my poor baby! Again with the damn Cpap?"

"He has a pic line now too. Fuck…Bella, were going backwards again."

"I know honey, just keep praying and hoping. Its all we have right now. Lets go hold him for a little bit, you know that helps."

"Hello Mr. Whitlock, Ms. Black, Emmett. How are you today?" They had started allowing Em in along with us after realizing we were going to be long term patients and he was going to pace a hole in the floor with his giant feet.

"Well, I would say better than him. What the hell happened?"

" He had a hard time regulating his body temperature last night and go chilled during some testing and went a little cyanotic on us. So the physician on call decided to go this extreme opting for more aggressive measured rather than the passive measures that have worked so well in the past. His regular doctor was out of town but is on the way in, these things should be pulled pretty quick once she arrives."

"So its not like he regressed or anything, he just got tired during the testing? What the hell was he being tested for last night?"

"We were actually checking his ability to successfully maintain his breathing at room air on his own and feed. He had been doing really well but he got a little bit of the formula down the wrong pipe and choked and then everything went to hell. He's got a bit of reflux, so we are going to change to another milder formula and see if that works. The good news is that he has finally broken the 6lb mark and he managed to take a bottle with minimal support for 15 mls! We will be moving him back down to the step down unit in little bit, so don't worry. It was just a precautionary measure by a physician who was new to the case. He's actually doing so good that I wouldn't be surprised if we were talking about sending him home within a week or so."

"Oh God, really? Hell yes! That's my boy! I cant wait to get him home and show him his new room!"

"Yeah, like any of us believe you will actually let him sleep in his own bed? My poor mom will probably have to see if she can fit in the crib while you try to sleep with him on your chest just like he has for the last six months. Im hoping that maybe I will finally get to hold him for longer than 5 minutes."

"Quit your whining Em, you aren't the only one who hardly gets to touch the boy. I'm amazed he even knows he has a momma. He probably thinks he sprang from his daddy's chest, as much time as he spends cuddled up there."

They are exaggerating, really. I mean, sure, I hold him a lot, but he's used to me and I got the most training in what he needs, so I think its only reasonable that I spend most of the time holding him. He's fun to hold too. He really responds well to me too, sometimes even cooing at me and staring at me with his sweet little baby eyes. He blows bubbles at me and tries to grab my fingers when he's having a good day. Its been a long haul with him. Didn't look good soo many times and there were more than a few late night runs to the hospital and waiting anxiously while his doctor fought a fever or some other issue with him that tried to take him from us. We are really damn lucky though, other than being really small and having reflux and some problems with low muscle tone that makes eating and moving around difficult, he doesn't seem to have any major health issues. They think his eyes are really weak so he will need glasses, and he has many of the features typical of Downs, so there is no hiding what he has and I really don't give a damn. He smiles and the world lights up, that's all that matters.

"He hates that cpap, so how much longer til the doc gets in?"

"Only about 15 minutes and then we are going to try him just with a cannula again, so if you guys want to wait, its bath day and we are going to most likely d/c the pic line as well, so its worth sticking around for.

A crash course in everything a special needs baby requires had been my life over the past 6 months. From dealing with the girls breathing problems that finally resolved themselves to all the stress from Charlie, it felt like my life had been a constant run of child related drama. I hadn't touched my guitar in months and calls from prospective agents and casting directors went unreturned. I had registered for college with Em and I was planning on taking classed in the Spring as soon as my boy was out of the hospital, but my life was wrapped around my kids and Bella.

We had moved into the house and that was all kinds of fun. Bella had been resistant at first because she didn't want to give up her independence. As long as she had her own place, she felt we were on equal footing, but it was just the matter of some paperwork and adding her to the deed to make her happy, along with letting her contribute to the remodel. She was still managing the complex until the company found a new on site person that she approved, and the company was looking to move her up to the general manager level, though she wasn't sure she wanted that. She enjoyed being with the babies, but if not for her insurance, we would have been sunk. Even with it, some of the bills were shocking. Charlie's ongoing hospitalization was rapidly eating up any savings we had and every little setback was another stress in so many ways.

He looked good in spite of all the medical equipment that was back on him. In the past few months he had filled out a little bit and gained more of a baby look instead of the frog legged starved look that he had been born with. His hair was wild and shaggy and seemed to be the thing that actually grew the fastest on him. It wasn't really thick, but it stuck up in all kinds of ways that amused everyone who saw it. He had found his hands and spent a great deal of time chewing on them and smearing slobber all over anyone who he could reach, and he had gained volume to his cries. His one dimple was the funniest thing about him. It appeared when you tickled his feet and he gave his best open mouthed grin.

"Mr. Whitlock, Bella, Emmett, good to see you. Sorry about the delay in getting this taken care of. I'm having the cpap and the pic removed and yes, we are making great progress. The doctor last night was new on the case and was trying to err on the side of caution. As soon as we get him resettled, I assuming you were planning on feeding him?"

"yeah, I have been handling as many of his feedings as I can. He seems to do really good when I hold him or when his mom does. Do you think he will be ready to go home soon?"

'Well, he has doubled his body weight, hes feeding better and better, and while he might need some oxygen support and monitoring for apnea, you have already dealt with that with the girls, so I don't see why we couldn't shoot for the end of the week as long as we don't have any other infections pop up or other drama."

"Hell yeah! That is great news!" My boy is coming home! I am both thrilled beyond belief and scared out of my mind.

**Bpov**

"Jasper, you have to put him down sometime, you are exhausted. If you keep on you are going to end up dropping him or falling asleep on him. Now why don't you let me or Carlisle have him for a bit and you go take a nap?"

"Nah, im okay. I was just getting ready to change his diaper and see if he was hungry."

I nod at Carlisle out of Jaspers line of sight. He doesn't need to know what we are about to do, but its for his own good. Charlie has been home for two weeks and while he is doing great and growing like a weed, Jasper looks like hell. He never puts that baby down. I know he is not sleeping enough and I know he's hardly eating. He's obsessed with making sure that Charlie has every little thing handled the minute he squeaks. We are all worried that not only is Charlie not being allowed to develop like a regular baby, but that Jasper is on the verge of collapse. Carlisle and I had come up with a plan, albeit a bit unconventional, to not only get Jasper to rest, but to get Charlie some time with his siblings and the rest of his family. Jaspers mom and dad were due up at any time to help with the plan.

"Well, can I hold my son while you get his bottle ready?"

"I guess. Be careful! Support his head. You got him?"

"Yes Jasper, I think I know how to hold my own son."

Em and Carlisle and Eddie follow Jasper into the kitchen and after a few muffled shouts and thumps later, Em comes out with an unconscious Jasper in his arms.

"How long will he be out?

"I hit him with enough to keep him out for a good 6-8 hours. That should be enough to get this intervention well on the road to implemented."

"He's going to be soo pissed at us."

"Em, I really don't care at this point. He needs some help."

"He doesn't just need some help, he needs a bath! The dude reeks! When is the last time he took a shower?"

"I really don't know. He's been religious about washing Charlie and dealing with him, but I couldn't tell you the last time he slept in a bed or had a shower himself. Why do you think I called his mom?"

"Well, who is going to wash this stinky dude because I am not doing it. I've seen enough of his business to haunt me well into my old age."

"Ill do it!"

"No Eddie, you were too quick to volunteer."

"Carlisle? You give me a hand while Eddie and Em watch the kids? Ill handle the delicates if you keep me from pushing his head under."

"That sounds like a plan. Might as well give him a shave and a hair cut while we are at it. He looks like a wild man and that will not make his parents very happy."

"Okay, but don't get too carried away, I kinda like the longer hair."

"Bella, don't mentally scar the gay man."

"Oh hush up Eddie!"

"Em, if you would just go lay him in the tub? Im thinking we will strip him in place and toss the clothes. Carlisle, you know where the towels are right? Could you grab a few and a hand towel to cushion his head? Em ? Don't run off yet, help me get his shirt and shoes off, I know that much wont traumatize you and Eddie has the kids handled for a minute.

"Oh wow, mom! Look at how thin he is!"

" I know Em, I know. Why do you think I was insisting on us doing something. He wont slow down and take care of himself, well, we are going to make him, even if we have to force him. He may end up mad as hell at me, but he will get over it. Id rather him be mad at me than him collapse with Charlie in his arms and have to live with that guilt."

"Mom, here, watch his head. Ill get his pants, just be quick with the wash cloth, I don't want to see that again.."

"Hey, Carlisle, did you find the towels? Good. Thanks for the help Em. Why don't you call Rose and ask her to come on over and tell her we have started."

"No problem. I'm just going to go help Ed after im done bleaching my brain and eyeballs."

'Oh sorry about that. I should have grabbed a hand towel."

"TMI mom, TMI!"

"Carlisle, look at him, he looks terrible."

"I agree. He's worked himself into a fine mess this time. I'm surprised he's been able to stay on his feet as long as he has. I'm going to draw some blood and have some tests run, but im willing to bet he's running on the bare minimum. You know he's going to fight us on this don't you?"

"Why do you think I called his mom? Can we manage him at home or will we need to put him in the hospital?"

"He will do fine at home, especially with all of us here taking care of him. We just need to let him know that he's not the only one who can take care of Charlie. Hopefully once he realizes that, he will relax a little."

" Poor baby. He's really doesn't do anything halfway, does he?"

"Not since I have known him Bella, not since I have known him."

**Jpov**

The fuck? What the hell happened? Why the hell am I tied to a damn bed? Where the hell is Charlie?

"You just settle yourself down right now young man. You aren't going anywhere."

"Momma? What are you doing here?"

'Funny you should ask that. Seems we had a talk not that long ago about you needing to take better care of yourself, and yet here you are, starved half to death worrying your family about when you were going to collapse and drop my grandson. I hear you haven't been eating or sleeping or letting anyone else take care of Charlie at all."

"Where is Charlie? What time is it?"

"Its nearly midnight and Charlie is asleep in a portable crib next to his momma. He's having a hard time because he seems to think he's supposed to sleep on YOU for some reason. Why is that, son? What have you done to my grandson? Why doesn't he know how to sleep properly?"

"But, what if he stops breathing? Momma! He's had apnea and he could choke or forget to breathe."

"Son, he's nearly a year old now. He needs to be sleeping in a crib and learning how to be as close to a normal child as he can be. Are you going to want him sleeping on you when he's 3? 5? 7? 12? Where will it end son? You cant keep holding him back. Every little challenge you deny him is a learning experience he has missed out on and a chance to grow he had been denied. His sisters are walking and chattering up a storm and feeding themselves, he's not even holding his own bottle or sleeping in a crib, and don't you tell me its all because he's special. You have got to let that child face some of his battles. I know its hard, I know it hurts your heart. I know its terrifying, but you have to have faith in yourself as a parent, him as a person and that everything happens for a reason. Son, you wont be there every time he faces a challenge, just like I haven't been there for you every time you have faced a challenge or an insult or a hurt, no matter how badly I have wanted to be. I have had to stand back and stifle myself and just let you get through it, though there have been times, like now, when I have had to step in and remind you that you are still my little boy. Just be there to remind him, don't live his entire life for him.

"Momma, I know what Carlisle and all of them say, but I still feel soo damn guilty for him being special."

'Well, that is your burden, son. You need to find a way to get over that and not smother him to try and cure your guilt. Your making yourself sick isn't helping him either. That is why you are getting a time out. We are all in agreement on this, by the way, so don't you be mad at Bella or Carlisle or anyone else. We have all been very concerned about you. Even Charlie's doctors had commented that you were, 'Obsessed".

"Momma, I am tied to a bed!"

"I know. I helped to make sure you were comfortable. You also have an I.v for some fluids because you were dehydrated and if you don't start eating better, you will have an NG tube for feeding. Now, I am going to go get you some soup for you a late dinner. Would you like a glass of milk or a glass of juice? I can tell you its going to have some supplement powder in it, so either way its going to taste odd to you."

"I think I need to pee."

"No you don't. We took care of that too. Handy thing having a doctor in the family. But nice try. You aren't getting out of bed for at least 24 hours. Now don't give me any sass."

What the hell? Momma is in on this too? I can hear Charlie crying in our room down the hall and he sounds soo damn unhappy. Have I really messed him up so bad? I thought I was doing the right thing. I mean, Bella an everyone else had tried to tell me he needed to be treated as normally as possible, but I just didn't see why? He had me and everyone else to watch out for him and help him. As long as we were there to take care of him, why did he need all those therapies and other crap to force him to try and be something he was never going to be? Had I failed him soo badly?

"Hey…your mom said you were awake. I thought I would bring someone in to say hi to you for a minute so you would see he's doing okay."

"Bella, please! Let me go. You know I was just trying to do the right thing."

"Jasper, I cant do that. Do you know you are over 20 pounds underweight? Carlisle said you are anemic and on the verge of total collapse. What if you had fallen with him? You could have killed him and what would that have done to you? I get that you love him and want the best for him. I want that too. We all do. But you have to remember that you have to care about yourself too or your wont be able to help anyone. Now, give your son a kiss and tell him to go to sleep! You eat and get some sleep and we will see you in the morning. We love you Jasper, please remember that?"

"Bella? Please? Let me go! This is kidnapping! You cant do this to me!"

"Son! You hush up before you wake the rest of the house. It is not kidnapping. A doctor has declared you unfit to make decisions for yourself for the time being and you are being cared for in a safe setting. This is like rehab. You know what's that like, correct?"

"Yes momma. I'm sorry."

"Okay now son, can you scoot up just a little bit? I'm going to have to feed you tonight, and then we will adjust things tomorrow."

Fuck. My. Life


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N Sorry for the delay in getting this up,(snicker, snicker), but the original version of this got erased by my little girl yesterday morning as she was searching Youtube for videos of a certain fella. I blame monkeys,(so should you), and then FFN was down for me and wouldnt let me upload it. **

**Also, as I explained to a couple of you, I forget I have readers from around the world where they have socialized medicine. Jasper over here is a single guy with no insurance who is rapidly ripping though his savings as well as Bellas savings paying for the needs of the kids. If not for their insurance, they would be poverty stricken. Sooo, no, he wouldnt be in a hospital if they could prevent it and care for him at home. Just one Emergency room visit can run into the thousands of dollars and its rare for an unemployed young man to have the means to pay that out of pocket or the insurance to cover it. Millions of American adults go without basic medical or dental care, you just learn to deal with things like rotten wisdom teeth or minor broken bones or even poor vision. Hope this clears things up a bit.**

"How's he doing today?"

"Not great. He hardly slept at all last night and he's not eating. All he does is yell."

"That's not good. If something doesn't change soon he's going to end up losing weight and needing to be tube fed."

"Im about out of ideas. Should we take him to the hospital?'

"Let me give it a shot."

"Are you sure, Rose?"

"Yeah, I've got this. Just ignore any yelling you hear."

"What the fuck do you want? Wait…why are you locking the door? Don't touch that! Its attached to my AAAAHHHHH! OOUUUUCHHH!"

**Rpov**

Enough was enough. I had held my tongue and sat back and watched while he had ignored those two beautiful and brilliant little girls of his and smothered that poor little boy. I had watched as he got thinner and paler and steadily more exhausted and my sister got more and more worried about him, and as each time she tried to step in he would brush her off and make her feel like she wasn't a fit mother for that little boy. I had watched as his obsession slowed down the progress Charlie should have been making along with his sisters, and it pissed me right the fuck off.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? I am so close to yanking this thing out and beating you with it you just have no idea. Do you know you have two other beautiful and super smart little baby girls who hardly know they even have a daddy? Do you know that they are starting to toddle around and that they TALK! That they are feeding themselves? When is the last time you held one of them or changed one of them or played with one of them? Do you know what Mags favorite cartoon character is? What Emmys favorite meal is? What their first words were? DO YOU?

"OWOW OW ROSE, PLEASE! NOOO!"

"Let me tell you something little man. Those baby girls need a father just as much as that baby boy does because they are growing fast and they are starting to notice things and I can tell you for a fact, if you aren't going to bother to be there for them, there will be other men who will be, and it may not be now, but they will come around and they will be the wrong kind of men who always find little girls who had daddy's that ignored them, and those little girls end up getting hurt. If they are lucky, they just get their feelings hurt, but if they aren't, they could end up getting with a man that will beat them or rape them or God forbid, even kills them. I am telling you, they will end up angry, damaged, women who if they are lucky to survive will never be the same and who will resent and hate their daddy's for not being there to protect them. DO YOU WANT THAT FOR THEM? "

"OUUUSHH! NOO! OH DAMMN ROSE, PLEASE, IM SORRY!"

"Prove to me you are sorry Jasper, prove it! Can you answer one of those fucking questions about your daughters? I know you want to do what's best for Charlie, and I admire the hell out of you for that, but you are going about it all wrong. Your momma and Bella and everyone else has been trying to tell you, give Charlie the tools to work in this life, don't be his crutch. He doesn't need a damn crutch. He needs a man to show him how to live and he needs his sisters to not resent him for taking all their daddy's attention from them. You are soo fucking lucky to have three beautiful, wonderful, very loved, children that people are dying to help you with. Dammit you need to let us. If you keep trying to micromanage and play GOD with Charlie, you are going to ruin him and end up in the hospital yourself. ARE YOU GOD, JASPER?"

"OWW NOO! ROSE! NOOO! CHEESE! Her favorite cartoon character is Cheese off those videos she watches with EM! Please Stop!"

"Oh puppy."

"Rose…you are strangling me."

"Sorry. Jasper, you know I love you. My sister and Em love you to death. You are surrounded by people who love and care about you. This wasn't done because we hate you. It was done because we don't want to watch you fall apart or fuck up Charlie and the girls. You are a fantastic father, an absolute natural, but dude…you have got to think of yourself and you have got to let Charlie start trying to do some stuff on his own. You aren't always going to be there to baby him, and its not healthy. He needs to be able to live his own life."

"Rose, I just feel soo damn bad that he has such a hard road. Its all my fault."

"Jasper, are you God?"

"No, but…"

"Don't give me any "buts". I asked you if you were God?"

"No Rose, Of course not."

"Did you intentionally give Charlie Downs Syndrome?"

"Absolutely not. But, I used to do stuff. I drank and partied and did all kinds of shit that probably made my dna all fucked up."

"Jasper, that is soo ridiculous I ought to give you another yank just for saying it. I mean, think about it, both of your girls are already off the charts intelligent. They not only beat the odds for being preemies, they are amazing. Did you know they are speaking in entire sentences? Want to get a total freak out? Ask Mags how her day is. She will tell you, "Im doing good. How is your day?" They are doing things that the doctor said that there is no way they should be doing them. Sooo, did your stupidity maybe give them super intelligence? Jasper, shit happens. It happens to people all the time with no rhyme or reason."

It really did. As soon as we could get him to start behaving and healthy, we had a family that the counseling group had set us up with as mentors. They were Brady Bunch, Squeaky clean, middle American, Christian, non-smoking, non-drinking, never done drugs, did all the prenatal care and the kid was even planned. He was waay worse than Charlie. He was deaf and had a heart defect to add to his Downs, so while they were a good example of how lucky Charlie was, they were also a picture of how even the most squeaky clean of families could have this happen to them. Jasper needed to get over the guilt before it ate him.

"Puppy, your guilt is just that, YOURS. You need to let it go. Its not your fault. Are you still doing any of that shit?"

"NO!"

"Do you intend to do any of that shit ever again?"

**Jpov**

Like I am going to say yes to that! Especially since she picked back up that tube and glared at me.

"NO! Never! Im clean and sober forever."

"Smart answer, puppy. Those kids need a man on his A game always."

"Rose, how do I fix this? I have fucked up soo badly and I just don't know what to do."

'Puppy, you have not. You need to stop beating yourself up, for one. You have been doing a fantastic job, but you have also been doing too much. Charlie needs to start being challenged and he needs to start learning how to do things for himself. The occupational therapist that came out yesterday and saw him said that he should already be able to hold his own bottle, but he wont. Not that he cant, its that he wont. He also needs to be on the floor around his sisters for what's called, 'Tummy time" so he can learn to roll and crawl and navigate himself around. He also will be getting glasses here in the next week or so, because the poor little dude is as blind as a bat. We have a physical therapist coming out today and a speech therapist coming out tomorrow and then later this week, you are going to be seeing a family therapist to help you with some coping strategies."

A shrink? I don't need a damn shrink. I will get it figured out, one way or the other. What the hell are they trying to do to me?

"Jasper, I can tell by that obstinate look on your face you think you don't need to talk to the family counselor, but I am here to tell you, that you do, and you will. We ALL are going to be talking to them. Thus the word, "Family" before the counselor? Do you get it? We are all in this with you. We want to help and you are going to let us."

"Oh, well…okay. I guess I can handle that. Rose, I promise I am going to try to do better by my girls. I really do love them soo much and I want to be a great daddy for them, but I have just been wrapped up in feeling bad about what Charlie has been through and his needs that I forgot that they needed me too. I will do better."

"Jasper, I know you will, you aren't going to have any choice for a while. Your dad had to go home to handle some business, but your mom is staying and you are in such bad health that you came within a few days of ending up in the hospital in the lockdown ward. You need to be eating and sleeping and remembering that not only are there children who need you and love you, but that my sister is involved in this little fiasco and while she may not admit it very often, she loves you quite a bit and has been worrying herself sick. She's also been pretty damn neglected by you for the last 8 months and that shit needs to change. Be with her, don't be with her, but don't keep her waiting around if you aren't planning on ever being with her again. I get that maybe she's too old for you or maybe she isn't what you wanted for your forever, but you will have to at least be able to be around each other for the kids, and if you hurt my sister? "

ROSE! I would never! I swear! Sex or anything like that has been the last thing on my mind lately, its not that I haven't wanted her, its that every time I have felt the urge, either she's been tired or I've been tired or something else has come up."

"Well, if you want her, something needs to be coming up and its not excuses because the woman is feeling like you don't want her at all and her self esteem is in the crapper, which is very unfair considering she is back just as disgusting skinny as she was before the baby invasion."

"Well, I don't know how she feels about kink, but there aint a whole hell of a lot I can do like this. If you could get Carlisle to see his way to removing some of this mess, I give you my word as a gentleman, I will behave and I will take a shower and eat and follow all the directions you have for me."

"You promise?"

"Rose, I swear on my kids."

"Okay, puppy. I believe you. Let me go talk to Carlisle and see what I can do. He wasn't too happy about having to recatheterize you the last time so he may leave it just to be difficult."

"Oh please, do your best to get him to pull that damn thing especially"

"Puppy, I will try."

'Thank you, Rose. For everything."

"Not a problem hun, just get better, okay?"

"I will, I promise."

I'm serious about changing. I will do my best. She was right about being there for my girls. I knew exactly the kind of girls she was talking about and it made me sick to my stomach that my daughters might end up being those kind of girls for who being groupies was a mild example of the wrong things that could happen. Daddy was right when he said that when you had a son you only had to worry about one dick, but when you had daughters you had to worry about all the rest of them out there. Now, I'm worried. I know that my girls had great guys in their lives, and Carlisle, Marcus, Emmett and even Eddie(that fucker), were great for them, but nothing was like having a daddy who was involved.

"Hey Jasper, you okay?"

"I think ill live Carlisle, though I don't know if Ill want to after what Rose did to me."

" It sounded pretty bad."

"Honestly, I think I may have gained a couple of inches thanks to her."

"I seriously doubt it."

"Not like I really need them though."

"Jasper, you are starting to make me reconsider taking this thing out."

"Sorry Carlisle"

" Okay, its out. Now, roll up on your side for a minute."

"Why?"

"Jasper, I need to check your back and examine you before we let you up, so if you want to get loose you damn well better do what I asked."

"Jeeze Carlisle! You don't have to get so bitchy about it."

"Any pain in your back or hips?"

"No"

" Okay, good. Hold still."

"OW! THE FUCK!"

"It's a vitamin shot. You will be getting one of those every few days to boost your immune system and to help build your appetite. You will come to me for them nicely, or Marcus and Em will help remind you that you need to get it, understand? If you don't eat properly starting after your shower, you will be getting an NG tube and you will be fed like an invalid. You will be taking a mild dose of a sleeping pill to help you sleep and develop a normal sleep pattern. We finally have Charlie sleeping in his crib. We need you sleeping in your bed. If you want we can get a monitor for you too."

"Jeeze, no need to be an asshole, Carlisle."

"Jasper, don't get me started but there is lots of reason to be an asshole."

"Am I going to be allowed to get up and get a shower?"

"Yes, you are. Marcus and Em are here so if you think you are going to pull anything stupid, you had better just forget about it. Your mom is in the kitchen making you some lunch and I would like to go to my home and spend some time with Eddie before I have to go to work. Can I count on you to behave?"

"Yes Carlisle, You have my word. Is Bella here?"

"Yes, she is. She's in the kitchen with your mom. You really don't deserve her, you know? Even your mom agrees."

"Carlisle, I am working on fixing things. Please give me a chance. Can you let me go now?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Ill let Bella handle that end of things."

"Oh…okay."

**Bpov**

Rose said he was finally listening to reason and that he actually did want to be with me? Id have to see it to believe it. I really was to weary of it all to care. My kids are all that really matter and as long as their needs are being met, then I can deal with most anything, even if it is a life of perpetual celibacy. Maybe I was a fluke and he was actually gay? I have no freaking clue and I really am not interested in fighting about it. I love him as a person and I love how much he cares for his son. I want him to do better with his daughters, and Rose tells me that he seems to have realized what all he has been missing. I know I have enjoyed getting to finally spend some time with Charlie. He has soo many of Jaspers features, but they are just a little skewed, not in a bad way, they just look different. His hair is all his daddy though as is his smile and those eyes. I would know them anywhere and holding him and snuggling him up was almost a substitute for cuddling his father. I miss cuddling Jasper soo much, but I really didn't expect it to last. His mom says that he will come around and that he just needed a wake up call, but either way. I will continue to care for him and do my best to make the situation work.

Oh good, Carlisle says he wants me to come let him loose?

'Hey Jasper, Are you ready to get up?"

"I don't know Bella, I think I might. Why don't you come over here and check."

"Jasper?"

"Don't my mom and Rose have the kids for a few minutes?"

"Uh…yeah?"

"Why don't you lock that door and lets go take a shower together and see if your new iud works."

"Are you sure?"

'Well, I would let you play naughty nurse to my poor helpless patient, but I haven't had a shower in a day or two and that might not be all its cracked up to be."

" Hmm, So I see you are up for it."

"I do believe so. Tell me, do you think Rose pulled me a couple of extra inches?"

"Jasper, I don't think you need to worry. But if we have to tie you back up, maybe we should tell her to pull on your ankles next time."

"Oh that's fucked up, Bella! Making a short joke? Picking on a man when he's down?"

"Jasper, you are most certainly not down right now."

"You are correct. Lets go make the most of it while everyone is distracted."

**Empov**

"Hey Carlisle, Where is my mom?"

"Em, she went to let Jasper loose."

"Wasn't that a half hour ago?"

"Uh, yes."

"Bow chika wow wow !"

"Oh jeeze Eddie! Was that really necessary?"

"Yes, yes it was. Did you not hear the shower running? I wonder if she's giving him a sponge bath?"

"Oh grosss!"

" Emmett! Get off of Edward and get your armpit out of his face, that is not sanitary. Edward, go wash your face and hands and quit teasing the boy, that is his mother you are talking about. Carlisle?"

"Yes, Ali?"

"You did put Bella on some birth control didn't you?"

"Yes Ali, she has an iud now."

'Okay, lets hope it works for her. Poor woman has her hands full as it is."


	30. Chapter 30

'C'mon buddy, you can do it. Just take one little step and daddy will catch you. You can do it."

'Okay Mr. Whitlock, if he steps towards you, I want you to slowly scoot back a little. We need to keep encouraging him to stay on his feet as long as possible, its good for his trunk stability as well as him developing his large motor kills."

This was hard. We had PT, OT, Speech, on top of play therapy and at least one doctors appointment a month it seemed for one reason or another. We had spent Thanksgiving in the hospital with some weird infection called, "Buccal Celluitis" that caused his jaw to swell up and him to run a fever that scared the hell out of everyone. I didn't even know a baby could handle a fever of 104.3 without having a seizure and I never wanted to find out again. His sisters were now twice his size and all over the place in the house. Thank God, Eddie was good with tools because he spent a week baby proofing the house after Mags got into the rice and walked through the house trailing it everywhere, including, somehow, both commodes enough that they clogged. Emmy liked to swallow my guitar picks. The way we found that out was first Bella and then I found one in her diaper just before we got her and Mags started potty training. Somehow I ended up in trouble for the guitar picks. It wasn't like I fed them to the kids, but Bella said that Emmy copied what she saw me doing and she had seen me stick my guitar pick in my mouth when I was working on writing a song and too distracted to put it anywhere else.

"Don't put them in your mouth anymore, or leave them where the kids can reach them, because I cant promise you I threw those in the trash."

Yeah…that broke me of that habit really fast. It was shocking how much stuff those kids picked up from watching and unfortunately, listening to us.

"Fuck!"

"Did you hear that?"

I froze like a deer in headlights. If I admitted it, then I was likely going to get blamed for it,(rightfully so), so of course I tried to play ignorant.

"Hear what?"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!Fuckity Fuck"

"Emily! You stop saying that right now!"

It might have been more effective if Bellas shock reaction wasn't to laugh, and of course Eddie, (the fucker) didn't help matters by literally falling on the floor laughing.

The next thing we knew, we had Mags saying it too and I swear, it was Charlie's first word after, "No!"

I don't think we felt safe taking them out in public for a month after the, 'Fuck" fiasco.

We worked hard to get them into a routine so we had some semblance of a normal life and while I still had a hard time not going in and checking on Charlie several times a night, the sleeping medication coupled with Bella's constant reassurance that he was fine, was helping. At her insistence, I had started working on my music again and spending time with Emmett playing guitar as well as going to the gym to help build my appetite. Life was pretty good.

"Come on Bubba, you can do it! That's my big boy! Awesome!"

He took a couple of wobbly steps towards me and then flopped back down on his butt, his hair falling over his glasses and his hands promptly getting jammed into his mouth as he lost interest in trying again.

"He did really good today Mr. Whitlock. I can really tell you have been working with him quite a bit. Don't forget to have him wearing shoes as much as possible and do the trunk stabilization exercises with him as often as possible."

"Okay, we have been. Bella has been working on making him sit up for longer and longer periods of time as well."

"Awesome! He is really doing well and I bet he will be running all over behind his sisters in no time at all!"

"Oh, wonderful."

He had gotten so damn cute over the few months. His little dimples really stood out on his slobbery cheeks and his hair was insane. I hadn't let anyone cut it yet and it hung past his ears and his collar and it was beginning to flop into his eyes almost constantly. I knew the time was coming when I was going to have to relent and let his hair get trimmed, but it was hard for me to think about it. His little circular glasses gave him an owl like appearance and even though he had fought them for a month or two, after he realized they helped him see he had actually started reaching for them in the mornings when we got him out of bed.

"Jasper, me and Em are going downtown to meet Ed and Carlisle for lunch, why don't you guys come with? We are planning on going shopping afterwards to get Charlie some new shoes and Mags a dress or two and Emmy has been asking for a monkey. You are the expert in what is best there, so your help would be appreciated."

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Let me find my good jeans and a clean shirt and we will go with. Can you dress Charlie?"

"Not a problem. I assume you want him in a jr. Hipster outfit?"

"Ha ha ! Real funny, woman! If you want any fine hipster loving tonight you better play nice. "

"Hey! No holding out or I will put a bow tie on him!"

"Oh Jeeze woman! No damn bowties! He was mad for a week after the last time. He still expects me to find those pictures. By the way, where is Em?"

She came tearing into the bedroom with a grin on her face acting like she was revealing a huge secret. "He's already downtown with Eddie, and get this…a GIRL! My son has met a GIRL!"

"Well gee, Bella, did you expect it would be the other way?"

"Honestly Jasper, I wasn't sure. It didn't matter, but I am happy for him. She sounds really cute. "

"What do you mean she sounds really cute? Have you been spying on him?"

"I am his mother, that's what I'm supposed to do."

"Oh good Lord, Bella! If he finds out he will be so mad at you. You shouldn't spy on the boy like that. He's a good kid, he will make the right decisions, let him have a little space."

" Jasper, I don't know. You were a young guy once and you got into all kinds of trouble. I just worry that if he's given too much free rein, he will end up hanging himself."

"Bella, Emmett is nothing like me. He's mature and steady and reliable. He will be fine. Eddie,(the fucker) will keep him in check.

"God I hope so, we don't need anymore babies in the house right now!"

She was right there. It was crazy some days. Just trying to go anywhere was like traveling with the band. We had to pack a bunch of shit in and a bunch of shit out and we had to tread lightly around all the different personalities.

Emmys is a daddy's girl all the way. She wants to be in my arms and talking to me constantly, and if Charlie gets in her way, she has no problem smacking up on him. We have had to separate them several times and put her in time out for that mess, and I blame myself. If I had paid more attention to her when she was a baby , she wouldn't be so jealous now. I work really hard on spending a lot of time with the girls now and they are starting to calm down, but I can see what Rose was referring to when she said they were going to resent Charlie if I didn't start playing fair and paying more attention to them. On outings I usually carry Charlie in a chest carrier and push Emmy in a stroller unless Mags is in the mood to put up with me. She's is still very much Carlisle's girl and its been very good for him. She fusses at him for being gone to much to work and Boom! He reduces his hours to a sane level. She fusses at him for making Eddie sad over some tiff and Boom! Eddie(the fucker) got flowers and candy. Mags feet never touched the floor when Carlisle and Eddie were around.

Emmett was the one out of all of us who seemed to come though this whole situation unscathed. He was doing great in school and while I had delayed entering classes for a semester, he had already achieved straight , "A's" in everything and he was wanting to register for extra hours the next semester. His social life was going great,(obviously) and he seemed happy. He was very protective of Charlie. Almost to the point of being a hazard to have a around at times though. He wouldn't tolerate the word, "Retard" from anyone and after he told hid friend about his new brother, he warned them not to use the word anymore. Those who did were cut out of his life like they never existed. He had even engaged in some online fighting. He found one of my old fan websites where they had been discussing me and the changes that had gone on, and somehow, someone had gotten a picture of Charlie. Most of the comments were kind and supportive, but there were a few…Lets just say that thank God Em is not as good at tracking down ip's yet as he is other things. He did throw the laptop and that was unfortunate. I replaced it and warned him to stay away from those sites. I had developed a thick skin over the years and I was used to it, but even I got pissed when they went after my kids.

Speaking of the fans and my former life. That picture Rose had taken had made the rounds of some interesting places and apparently sparked some interest in me once again. I had been contacted by a casting agency interested in working with me and there were some roles coming up that it had been suggested I audition for. I had broached the subject with Bella and while she had been supportive, I knew she was worried. If I got a role, it would mean time away from home and the kids. I would have to pick and choose carefully, but damn…I wanted back in the saddle! My music was doing pretty damn good too. I had written a few new song and even played one at an open mic night at a local bar to a really warm reception.

We needed the money. My savings was going fast and I worried that Bella's was too. If I got back into it, we would at least have some income to help support Charlie's needs, so I was thinking of giving it a go and counting the time away from them as a worthy sacrifice.

"Are you ready yet?"

"Almost. Hey, have you seen my band t-shirt?"

"Uhh, yeah. Look in my top drawer."

"Bella! Your boobs stretch it out!"

"I know. I'm sorry! I just like how it makes them look"

In all honesty, I do too. I paw through her shirts, past her long unused b.o.b. and find another of her t-shirts from her days as a cop and I decide to wear that because she likes me in black for some weird reason. I'm going to ask her again pretty soon. She keeps blowing me off, like she doesn't believe im serious, but its what's best for the kids, best for us, and it sets a good example for Emmett.

"Oh Bella! Not the bow tie again! Come on!"


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N Short and hopefully sweet one for the end of the month. Ill be back into the full swing of things in the next few days. If you would, give "Baa Baa Black Sheep" a read. Its not a happy tale, but its written in honor of a couple of my loved ones. **

**Bpov**

Walking around in public with him and the babies is a hazard. When he is pushing Emmy in her stroller and carrying Charlie in his chest carrier, people cannot resist the cute overload. Due to his long hair and glasses, most people don't notice the Downs right away and they coo and make over Charlie like he is the cutest baby ever. Sometimes when they notice, they get a funny look and the attitude cools, but most of the time they cannot resist his huge, open mouthed grins or his happy squeals. We have to really pay attention to him closely because he still isn't totally over the whole, "Fuck is fun to say because it gets a huge reaction" phase and there have been a few incidents. The worst was in a restaurant when a little old lady stopped by our table because not only did she want to look at the babies, she recognized Jasper! That blew all of our minds. We were sitting there staring at her when she bent down to say hello to Charlie and he looked up at her and very clearly said, "FUCK!"

"What did he say?" she asked, looking confused.

"Uh…"

"He said FUCK!" Emily helpfully told her at a loud enough volume that three tables away turned to look.

"Oh My!"

"They are at that phase. They overheard it once and they just wont stop saying it!"

Jasper was flailing, trying to explain while the lady just stared at him.

"Honey, If I was shocked by that word, do you think I would be a fan of your music? Don't react to it anymore other than to take them away from whatever they are doing that is fun and tell them a firm No! and that should end it eventually. My son called his kindergarten teacher a motherfucker back in the days when no one used that word supposedly. I blamed his father who was over in Korea at the time. Now, can I have a picture with you?"

"Bella, Im gonna blame you for it from now on. You are the ex-cop, all cops cuss a lot."

"That's fine Jasper, Ill blame you when you aren't around, after all, you are the ex-rock star. Who do you think your mom will believe?"

"That is really dirty pool!"

" Any port in a storm"

"Lets blame Eddie!(the fucker)"

"You know she wont buy that at all, she loves him even I know that, Jasper."

"What about Rose?"

"Remember what she did with your catheter?"

"Okay, never mind."

"I ought to tell her you were thinking of blaming her."

"Bella! You wouldn't! Don't you love me? Even a little?"

"You know I do."

"Then marry me."

"What?"

"Im serious. Marry me."

"Why?"

"Why not? What do you have against marriage?"

"What do you have for it? Aren't you worried your career will be damaged if you are married to some old woman?"

"You mean the woman who had my kids? Fuck what people think. I don't care. I love you. I love them. Lets get married."

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

"Charlie! NO NO!"

"NO! NO! NO"

"Okay"

"What?"

"I said okay. But nothing fancy or expensive. We keep it simple and small and quiet. Okay?"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Ooooff! Jasper you are strangling me."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Now, you get to tell Emmett."

Oh fuck.

"FUCK!"


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N IMPORTANT! I got a new computer today and my old one,(the one this file was on), now belongs to my 10 y/o son. My new computer doesn't have Microsoft office yet and since I am a dinosaur, I havent upgraded or bothered to learn Google Docs. I was informed that since I am OLD and out of touch, I am now SCREWED and will have to learn to use WORD which I HATE. Sooo, things may be a little slow for a few days while I get used to the new system. I cant even open any of my other files on my new computer. I have to go back to the store tomorrow and buy Office. #FML**

**Epov**

I cannot wait to see this. I couldn't let Em get blindsided by Jasper coming up to him and blathering his way though telling him he was going to ask Bella to marry him, so Carlisle and I had sat him down and broached the subject with him months ago to get his feel for it. He wasn't against it too much. He didn't plan on changing his last name out of respect to his father, but he really did like Jasper in spite of all his knuckleheadedness, and in spite of wanting to beat the hair off of him once upon a time. He felt it important for the kids to have a father and for them to be protected, but he was worried Bella would get hurt and weirdly about whether of not he would call him, "Dad"? I just had to mess with him a little over that.

"Tell me Em, do you want to call him DADDY?" the eyebrow wiggle always gets that point across.

" What? Wait…what? Oh Eww! Dammit! Gross! He's not only not that much older than me, he's runtyier than me!"

" Oh Em, I can tell you, in the grand scheme of thing, its not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog, besides…you know he skews the statistics."

OOOOF! Dammit! There goes the armpit in the face again. Poor Carlisle, He has learned over the past year that we shouldn't have anything fragile out when Em is visiting.

"Will you two please STOP! You are going to wake Maggie!"

'Sorry Carlisle. Ill stop if he stops."

"Get your armpit out of my face and Ill stop"

" Okay, I'm letting you up. No retaliation!"

"Okay! Oh GAH! EM! Farting on me is not fair!"

"Sorry, it was an accident , it slipped."

"You both are utterly disgusting."

"So Em, seriously. How would you feel about them getting married?"

"I don't know. I guess it would be good in some ways because it would be stability for the kids and they would legal and stuff, and he would be like obligated to be around instead of free to just take off whenever he wanted, but then again, if it didn't work out, he could try to take the kids away from my mom. I would hate to see them ending up in some divorce mess, and what if he goes back to doing stuff he shouldn't? I just worry he's not the right guy for my mom. He's done a lot better lately, but I don't know. I worry. What if he goes back into acting like hes been talking about doing? I don't want to have to move and I don't want my brother and sisters out there Hollyweird around all those people."

"Em, you have no say over that. He is their father regardless and he has the right to take them places. If your mom and him are married, she can help keep him grounded a little and just because he goes back to work, it doesn't mean you all have to move to L.A., lots of people live away from there. It would be harder, but it could be done. He really loves those kids and he would do right by them and he loves your mom too. He wont to anything to hurt her. I've really been impressed with how he has changed."

"I hear you Carlisle, but if he hurts my mom an those kids I will do something really bad. Charlie needs a good stable home, and I expect him to provide that for him."

"Well, there is one way for him to prove that, let him try."

"Okay Carlisle, If he asks I will be okay with it."

"Buuut, you can have a little fun with him, you know…"

"Ed!"

"Oh, come on Carlisle! Its been soo boring around here lately. Jasper has been so well behaved and Mr. Perfect, I haven't had any fun! Please? If he asks, let us just work him just a little? No blood will be drawn."

" How about public nudity?"

"I can make you no promises. This is Jasper we are talking about, random nudity is always a risk."

"Em, what do you say?"

"Ed, I am not getting naked around Jasper, other than that I am in."

So, we plotted and planned and we had a game plan for when the time came. If Jasper attempted to approach him alone with the whole, "I'm going to marry your mom" thing, Em was going to want call Jasper, 'Dad" and ask him if he intended to adopt him as well, a kind of in for a penny, in for a pound kind of challenge. I was betting Jasper was going to stumble all over himself trying to figure out what to say and then Em was going to pretend to get upset, asking if he "wasn't good enough to be his son too?' Fucked up? Yes. Our version of funny? Yes. Was Carlisle totally against it? Oh hell Yes. Were we doing it anyway? Yes. We just had to wait for Jasper to grow a pair and convince her to marry him.

**Empov**

I cant believe I have to ask Em if I can marry his mom. I mean, I understand it's a big thing, because out of respect for his feelings about his dad and stuff and him being the man of the family for so long, but…fuck! He's huge and when he's angry, he's fucking capable of eating me. I figure if I buy him lunch at a nice place he will be more willing to not kill me in public.

"So, what's up Jasper? I appreciate the meal and everything, but what is on your mind? You and I haven't hung out in forever."

'Well, there is something I need to talk to you about and its kinda important."

The way his voice kinda shakes a little there at the end almost makes me crack up, and I have to bite my lip to keep from cracking up.

"Well, spill it. I wont eat you."

"Well, you know your mom and I want to provide a good life for the kids and you and one way for that to happen is for me, I think, to marry your mom."

"Say what?"

"I want to marry your mom."

"I see. So what does that mean for me? You gonna be my step-father? Are you going to be wanting to try and tell me what to do and stuff? Will I call you "Dad" and stuff?"

"Uh I'm not sure. I would be your step-father legally. I don't know about telling you to do stuff, you are almost 17 and that's pretty much grown. You don't have to call me dad or anything."

" But I could call you dad, couldn't I? Would you adopt me and like be my legal father? I've never had a real dad. My father died when I was so young I never go to know him. I've spent my whole life without a real father. Would you be my father, Jasper?"

**Jpov**

Holy shit. He wanted a dad? I felt terrible. I had known him going on two years and I never knew. I thought that Eddie(the fucker) and Carlisle had pretty much filled that spot for him. I always felt like more of a buddy than anything else, but if he needed me to step up and be his father then I damn sure would. I loved the guy like he was my own, so what the hell? I had a pack of kids anyway I was going to be poor forever one way or the other, so I might as well adopt him and make him a Whitlock as well. I knew my folks would be good with it, they loved him too.

"Okay. Ill talk to your mom and get the okay from her, and once she says its okay with her, Ill adopt you and make you my son too."

"What?"

"I said okay. I love you Em. Ill adopt you if your mom is okay with it and you will be a Whitlock too."

"Oh…wow . Thanks"

Why is he crying? Should I hug him? I don't want to get hit. I guess I will try. Oh, okay, so he's hugging me back? I guess we are good then. Now I just have to hope that Bella is okay with it.

**Epov**

Em totally went off track with that. Who knew? I'm happy for him, I guess. Jasper is a good guy and some day he is going to get over me sending his picture to that gay porn website. He will be more forgiving when he finds out just how much money its made. I've been banking it for the kids in a hidden account along with the money I made off the stories I sold. He can make fun of me all he wants for writing what I write, his old fans ate that stuff up and I've made quite a tidy sum of money off of it and I've even got a few agents sniffing around about a screenplay. I would cut him in, of course, but for now I am keeping it quiet. The email account I set up to receive feelers about his pictures has been busy and the man could do quite well in the gay porn industry, I just have to broach the subject with him. I have a feeling it wont be well received at the moment, but let those bills keep stacking up and his boundaries may get a lot thinner.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N Still hating Word. Getting a little better at using it.**

**Jpov**

Getting married and, "Keeping it small and simple". Not something that is easy when my family gets involved, but Bella, bless her heart, she was standing her ground. It was a good thing she was Texan and just a stubborn as my family.

So instead of a hugely formal church ordeal, Carlisle was getting some certificate that would allow him to be the one to do it, and make it legal and it would be religious because he was, even sitting down with my folks and answering every question they cared to throw at him about the Bible, doctrine and what have you. My and Bella's concession was that we were going to fly down to Texas with the kids and get them Baptized after we got back from the honeymoon, all three days of it that I could convince her to take away from home and the kids. The food was going to be Texas bar b cue and the attire informal though we had all managed to bribe Bella into actually picking a dress. It wasn't fancy or even a wedding dress, but Rose said she was beautiful in it and they had found little dresses for the girls that almost matched it. All the boys were going to be wearing boots and black jeans and vests with suit coats and for the inside joke, bow ties.

Charlie and I both had the same long hair and I even had glasses like his. He and Em were my co-best men and Eddie was going to walk Bella down the aisle. We were set, and we even had a backup location in case it rained and the back yard was a no go. Rose had handled all the invites, and she had promised to keep it under a 100, that was the agreed upon maximum and I had even found a friend of mine from my acting days to handle the pictures for the whole shooting match. The cake was simple and Rose said the music was a, "Surprise."

I hate surprises. I think I have said that before. Surprises have you finding out you are going to be the father of triplets when you weren't even married or dating. Surprises have one of those babies being born with Downs. Surprises have you walking out into the back yard 15 minutes before you are getting married to the mother of your children and looking over and seeing your former band mates setting up to play the music at your wedding.

**Rpov**

I was standing in the back yard talking to the young men who were going to be playing the music at the wedding, trying very, very, hard to remember that I was, indeed a happily married woman in spite of the dazzling beautiful and charming smile of the oh-so tall and sweet man standing in front of me. We were talking about the importance of healing past hurts and that hopefully them playing the wedding and bearing the olive branch of peace and whatever the hell else he was talking about,(I seriously couldn't focus, all I could see was those eyes and dimples and I could hear that wonderful bourbon smooth voice of his resonating in my bones)when I heard Jasper enter the yard. Hell…the entire neighborhood heard Jasper enter the yard.

"Oh Hell NO! What the fuck are they doing here?"

He came charging over like he was about to throw a punch at the man I had been talking to and I know I laughed. I couldn't help it. It would have been like a grizzly flicking a booger if that fella had wanted to hurt him, but he simply evaded and I got ahold of Jasper.

"Ouch! GODDAMMIT! ROSE! Let me GO!"

"Marcus, Honey? Could you come out here please? He's a bit on the tetchy side and he about clocked me that time."

"Wa what? I did not!"

Oh shit. The back door hit the back of the house hard enough to dent the wall as Mark came towards us in what I called his, "Evil Terminator Stomp"

"Little man, did you hit my woman?" Marcus had Jasper by the scruff of the neck and the seat of his pants, as he gave him a glare that made even the tall fella go wide eyed.

"No! I would never hit Rose! Marcus, you know I love Rose! It's those guys I hate! Why are they here? I didn't invite them! Who did? Why are they here?"

"Dude, she contacted us to tell us you were getting married. We volunteered to play your wedding as a gift to you your new wife and as our way to hopefully rebuilding the bridge that was burned so long ago. We want to make peace and rebuild things with you if you will forgive us."

The other men came and stood next to the tall boy and it was almost hottie overload for me as they earnestly began talking to Jasper as he hung in Marks hands.

"Mark? Do you mind? I promise I won't throw any punches. We will talk like adults. I'm sorry Rose. I didn't mean to almost hurt you. You know I would never."

"Yeah, Okay Jasper if you behave yourself I'll let you go. You guys don't have long though, Bella is almost ready so nobody fuck this up or I will have to let Marcus finish what he started."

I nodded to Mark to set Jasper down and he and the tall, gorgeous boy wandered off to over by where the band had been setting up. They were soon laughing and talking animatedly and warming up the instruments. I knew my plan had worked by the smile on Jaspers face.

"Rose, if you had stared at that tall, pretty fella much harder your eyes would have chewed on his ankles as he walked away."

"That's weird, Mark. I wasn't staring at his ankles."

"Oh, I know, but he was so tall that is as far as they could have gotten before he managed to escape. He bats for the other team you know?"

"Duh, the ones that are that pretty often do. I just wanted Jasper to make his peace with his band and start building his life again."

"It looks good for that happening, but doesn't that mean he will leave Bella and the babies?"

"He might for little bits of time off and on, but Mark, the boy is floundering and doing nothing. He needs to feel like he's contributing or he's going to get into trouble. This will do that for him."

"I hope so. He's a good father, but he needs to be kept busy or he will drive Bella crazy."

"Oh, here comes Charlie! Look at that smile and those dimples! Marcus, I swear, we could probably adopt one like him. I've been looking at babies in Romania it's possible."

"Rose, whatever you want hun, whatever you want."

**Jpov**

"Is that your son?"

For some reason I immediately went on the defensive as I scooped up my little man. He had headed right for the guitars, wanting to check out the noise and make some of his own. He knew what guitars were for, and he had a couple of small ones he played around with, along with a play set of drums and a keyboard that he got to play when his sisters allowed him near it.

"TAR! Tar da! Tar Da e!" He was kicking and straining reaching towards the Gibson.

"Dude, he's got good taste going for the Gibson first. Have you started him on anything?"

"Yeah, no Gibson's yet, but we are building towards one."

"Damn, there is no denying he's yours. He looks just like you. He's got your smile and your hair."

"You should see my girls. They are gorgeous."

"Ah, so you mean they look like their mom?"

"I've missed you guys."

"We have missed you too. Can we work some stuff out after all this is over?"

"I'm willing to bet we can. I miss playing and I have some new stuff that I've been told is decent."

"That would be great man; we could really use getting your vibe back into us. It just hasn't been the same without you. Are you still doing the acting thing?"

"I haven't in a long time. I fired my manager after I found out about the tattoos she had me get marked me as a, "Top" into S&M."

"Duuuude! I had wondered about that. I had kinda figured you more for a bottom, but ya know, either way, it's all good."

"Dude, I'm not gay."

"Uh huh."

"No, seriously. I'm not gay. I'm getting married to Bella in like, 5 minutes. I'm not gay."

"Really?"

"Really! I'm straight"

"Shes not just a beard?"

"Dude! We have KIDS! 3 KIDS!"

"Hey man, sell it anyway you can. I tried a chick once even sealed the deal. Will never do it again, but I could have knocked her up. So, if you are straight, then why are you on gay porn websites?"

"Say what?"

"Oh dude! Look at the time! We got to get set up. Your lady is at the doorway looking at you. We will talk when the ceremony is over. Good luck!"

Charlie is cuddling up against me and acting sleepy as everyone is staring to take their seats and get into position. I have a feeling I will be holding the 2nd best man in my arms as Rose shoots me a look that in no uncertain terms tells me my butt needs to get into position over in front of Carlisle. The enormity of it all starts to hit as I hear the boys begin to play Bella in.

Em has the rings and the girls are following behind Bella without fighting or throwing anything other than the flower petals they are supposed to throw, so it's looking good so far. She does look beautiful in the dress and I would love to see her in it longer, but knowing her, she will be stripping out of it the moment the, "I Do's" are done.

I have no idea what the hell my boy was talking about in regards to the, "Gay porn",comment but I intend to find out. It answers a lot of questions about why I had been getting some of the offers I had been getting lately and I intended to get to the bottom of it, (so to speak) and figure out who was behind it,(again, so to speak), though I had a pretty damn good idea and his smirking mug was escorting my soon to be wife towards me.


	34. Chapter 34

**Bpov**

Warm. My face is warm. My ears feel warm. Why the hell do my ears feel warm? Damn! He's soo damn young. He's so very, very, cute standing there looking very pale with Charlie asleep in his arms. I wonder if anyone else feels as warm as I do. What is Eddie grinning about? He's been grinning a lot lately, which means he's up to something. I wonder what? I'll have to get Carlisle to find out. Really? Did we get a sudden heat wave? Why did I agree to this? Why do we have to get married again? Thing were fine. I mean, yeah…he could get a wild hair up his ass and take off to wherever, but he loves his kids too much to do that. He could still do it even married to me. He looks as terrified as I feel. He better not drop Charlie. Oh good, Em sensed he was getting wobbly and stepped up and took Charlie from him.

He wants to adopt Em? What the hell is that about? Em wants to be adopted? My life has gotten so fucking weird. It seems like yesterday I was sure he was gay and a million miles away from my weird little apartment complex and now we have 3 kids and whoa…the world just went a bit gray around the edges! It would really stink to faint right now. Carlisle is talking and looking at me. He better not say that, "Obey" part. I warned him we shouldn't start this off on a lie, and he promised to leave it out. He could put it in on Jaspers part that would work; he looks so rattled I bet he would even go along with it.

I can't believe Rose invited the band, I'm glad Marcus was here to prevent a brawl and to force them to talk. They needed to settle up. Oh. I'm supposed to answer now?

"Uh, yeah?" Oh great. Why is everyone laughing? Oh.

"I do" Wow, poor Jasper. He looks about ready to fall over. I wonder if I look much better? "

What? You need to what? Right now? Can't you wait a few minutes?"

Just as Jasper is about to give his answer, Mags announces she has to pee, very badly, very loudly.

Luckily, Rose snags her and heads for the house with her as quickly as possible as Jasper give a soft laugh followed by a shaky but clear, 'Why not" and before we know it, its official and he's kissing me. I'm married. Again. Holy hell.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur as the guests mingled and enjoyed the music and the food while Jasper and I tried to digest what we had just done.

"Do you feel any different?"

"I feel kinda weird. Like everything got real all at once."

"Hun, I got news for you that happened when those carpet monkeys were born. This? This is just the icing on the weirdness cake. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's a little bittersweet, but you know? This is so far down the road from my first wedding; it's not even in the same universe. What's on your mind today? You have seemed a little more preoccupied than usual? Is something going on I should know about?"

"Well, maybe, you know how I keep getting those offers from those gay porn producers and websites wanting me to audition for them? Some of the offers have been really lucrative and interesting, and I have to tell you I have considered it, but I have also wondered just where the hell they found out about me. My buddy tells me that my picture is up on a pretty prominent gay porn website. It was posted there and there are links to another site promoting me as an, "Up and coming amateur" and selling subscriptions to future videos."

"Are you kidding? You were considering going into gay porn? Really? You do realize that in order to go into gay porn you have to actually have sex with other men?"

"Well, yeah."

"You don't have a problem with that?"

"Well…"

"Jasper?"

"Well, I'm not thrilled with the idea, but they are offering really fat cash for it and it would ensure that Charlie's needs are met for a long time. Even if I made just a few movies, we could pay off the house, set aside money for the girls to go to college as well as pay for Em to go to school and cover Charlie's needs. The video sales would take care of retirement."

"No. Absolutely not."

"What do you mean, "No"?"

"I mean, NO! I won't have my husband selling his ass to whomever so we can pay our bills."

"Well, I technically wouldn't be selling my ass, I would be doing the …"

'Jasper, I don't care what you would be doing, I said NO. I won't stand for it."

**Jpov**

Wait just a damn minute, when did she start telling me what I could and couldn't do? Yeah, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of it, like I said, but the money was insane. I really could make us a great living if I made a few movies. I didn't have to use my real name and I flew below the radar enough that if I grew a beard and mustache and maybe added a few more tattoos, no one would know who the hell I was, except for a guy in porn. I could choose what and who I did and it was all safe and protected. There would be no risk. I don't see why she was being so difficult about it. She wasn't the boss of me; she's my wife, not my keeper.

"Since when did you become my boss?"

'Since you married me and became the father of my children and part of my family. I won't stand for that foolishness, Jasper. We don't need money that badly for you to go doing stuff like that. No one touches you but me, unless we are starting this whole mess off doomed to failure. Do you want your kids to be known as the kids of that porn star? Kids are cruel, Jasper and they will find out. They are going to have a hard enough time as it is, especially Charlie, and they don't need that added to it, and besides, and I will tell your momma."

"Bella that is dirty pool!"

" Jasper, I ought to tell her you were even considering it. Who the hell put that idea in your head? I can understand you are worried about money, but trust me, we will be fine. We have nothing to worry about. We might not be rich, but we will be okay. Did Eddie put you up to this; it has his stink all over it."

"Not directly, but the way he has been hinting around lately, I think he is the one who set all that up, he's got the time and the technical know-how."

Oh hell. I've done it now. She's got that look in her eye. Eddie better pray I can get her distracted by the honeymoon and all the talk of getting the band going again before she gets ahold of him.

"Well, tell me, if I can't do the porn thing, how do you feel about me working with the band again?"

"Oh Jasper! That would be the best wedding present ever! I have missed your music soo much! You forget I was a fan of the band before I ever knew you and I have damn sure missed it. I would totally be behind that that."

"Even if it meant I went on tour?"

"Yes, even if you went on tour. Could we come with you off and on?"

"I'm sure we could figure something out."

"That would be soo much better than you doing porn. If you want to watch yourself on video doing things, we can figure something out, but it will be you and me, and nobody else, understand?"

Oh boy…there is that look that makes my knees a little shaky, the one that Rose gets when she is about to put the hurting on me.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Now, you go find the kids and I am going to go find Rose for a minute. We need to get headed to the airport is we are going to get through all that hassle in time to catch our flight."

"Bella? Yes, Jasper?"

"You look really pretty in that dress."

"Thank you. Now quit trying to distract me and get your hand out of there, we have guests all over the place!"

"But, why do we have to wait for the honeymoon? That dress does amazing things to you and I can't help myself."

"Jasper!"

"Come on, let's just sneak off for a few minutes? I can see that Em and my mom have the kids, nobody will notice we are gone if we make it quick."

"I need to change anyhow, come on."

"You don't need to tell me twice."

**Empov**

I saw that. GROSS! Can't they wait? I swear someone needs to turn the hose on them. I blame Jasper, mom was never a perv like that before he came along, but I guess its okay, as long as they are using protection, (Please God! Let them be using protection?), I love my baby brother and sisters, but too much of a good thing would be just too much.

"Dude, did you see that?"

"Yeah Ed, I was just getting ready to hunt up the brain bleach when Charlie decided he needed the Em couch."

"You would think they could wait. Maybe they need a reminder there are guests here to see them?"

"Oh duuude, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that tall drink of water with the band needs to call Jasper up to sing with them, Right Now!"

"Ed, you are truly diabolical. Hurry up though, they have gotten it down to a science lately because of the kids and I swear he's like Pit crew fast."

**Jpov**

Okay, I expected to be hearing my name, but not in a man's voice, and not so damn loud. What the hell?

"Jasper? Jasper Whitlock! Where are you? Everybody give a hand and help find him, let's get him up here for a song!"

Eddie. I'm going to kill him.

"Oh dammit Jasper, Don't stop now!"

"Bella! It's a little hard to concentrate when that is going on."

"Screw that, come on! Soo close!"

Priorities she's right, back to business. Oh hell! Why is the door rattling? Really?

"Just a damn minute!"

"Jasper? What are you doing in there?"

Oh damn. Why does it have to be my momma? Why can't it be Rose or Carlisle or anyone else? Why my mom? Oh, NOW Bella is no longer worried about finishing.

"Jasper, they want you outside to sing. Couldn't you two wait just a little while?"

I think it is possible to die of embarrassment. Bella looks like she is close. Her face is the reddest I have ever seen it. I don't even what to know what I look like at the moment.

"Momma, we are just trying to change clothes! We will be out in a few minutes."

"Whatever you say son, but you might have better luck if you took the clothes in there with you rather than leaving them out here on the chair."

"Yes momma."

"Jasper? Could we just sneak off down the driveway and leave them all here?"

"Hun, I would like to try, but I don't think I could get the kids without anyone noticing."

"Well, I guess I am going to change clothes now."

"Yeah…might as well. I'm going to head on out there and get Eddie shut up before the neighbors complain. Let's see if I can still sing."

"Jasper, I have no doubt that you still can. If you happen to see Rose, could you send her this direction? I need to talk to her a few minutes."

"Sure, don't take too long. I need at least one fan to get me going again."

"Oh, I am sure you will have more than that in very short order."

**Bpov**

Gay porn? He was willing to do gay porn to keep us afloat? I don't know whether to feel loved or horrified. I know exactly who was behind that idea and I am going to let Rose handle it. That picture needs to come down off those websites and those links need to get shut down, yesterday. If Eddie wants to sell videos, he can sell them of himself. Jasper is doing nothing of the sort. Im happy he made up with the band. I have missed the music more than a little and I know he has. Even if he leaves to go on tour with them for a while, he will come back, of that I have no doubt.

"Hey sis, soo, I hear you got busted! Jeeze couldn't you two wait to go at it like monkeys til you got on the plane or someplace more appropriate?"

"Oh shut it Rose! I have something I need help with, and it involves that picture you took of Jasper."

"Bella, I am not taking nasty pictures of you two! That is where I draw the line. Eww, gross. I've seen too much of him as it is."

"ROSE! Would you shut up! Eddie put it up on a porn web site and is trying to get Jasper to go into porn. He's been selling links to it and promises of future videos."

"What kind of porn?"

"Huh? Oh, gay porn. He's even gotten offers from producers."

"Really? Wow. Are you going to let him, those guys make tons of cash. I bet he would be good at it. He would be like the surprise package or something, here's this short little guy with this…"

"ROSE! That is my husband you are talking about!"

Why is she sounding like she thinks that would be something interesting? Has the whole world gone insane? I don't have time for this now, I can hear the band starting to play and I want to see him in his world again.

"Rose, we will talk later. Right now, I want to see him out there with his band. Come on, you haven't ever hear him, have you? "

"No, but you have told me a million times about it. Lead the way, Im right behind you."

**Rpov**

Okay, now that's a thought that is going to be hard to get out of my head for a while. I can't wait to tell Marcus about this. It's not like we are freaks or anything, but when you have been married for a very long time, you often spice things up with a little outside influence and every now and then we take a wander though some of the free porn sites and Tumblr. Marcus has a very open mind about that kinda stuff and he had found Jaspers picture a while back on the site Bella was talking about and he had even commented that he thought he would be interesting to see in some films. I was both amused and a little disturbed, but eh…he is a pretty little man, there's no denying it.


	35. Chapter 35

**Rpov**

Well I'll be damned, No really, I will probably be damned for what I am thinking as I watch and listen to my brand new brother in law perform with his old band, because let me tell you, sinning is damned sure on my mind.

"Woman, I know that look on your face and you are thinking the same thing I am thinking."

"Daaayyyyuuum" Was about all I could say.

"Yeah, I think we are both going to hell for sure."

"Well, at least we will be there together."

"Your sister is one lucky woman, that boy looks like he could be all kinds of fun."

"My sister knows about that boy's picture being up on that website and she suspects Ed is trying to get him to do some gay porns for the money. She's about ready to nail Ed to the wall for putting the idea into Jaspers head. I think Jasper would do it if Bella would let him."

"Really? I know you would pay to watch that you wicked woman. Wonder if he's a pitcher or a catcher?"

I couldn't help but snort at that one, "You did see that picture didn't you? Even if he was a catcher, which I doubt just by how acts, they would want that in action."

"What are you two talking about so seriously over here?" Dammit! He about scared 10 years' worth of life out of me, I hadn't even heard Ed come up behind us.

"Oh, just how to get Bella to let Jasper make those porn movies you have been trying to talk him into making."

The look on his face was priceless. You don't often catch Ed speechless, but when you do, it's a moment that should be captured for posterity. His mouth opened and closed at least half a dozen times before he finally managed to say something, and then he tried to go with a denial.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Porn? What porn? Jasper is going to do porn? I might be interested in seeing the final product but what makes you think I would have anything to do with getting him involved in making it?"

"Oh give it up Ed. You are the only one in the family with the time and the knowhow to actually have gotten his picture and that website set up like it is, and I'll tell you what, Bella suspects you too. Jasper is into it, but Bella is not happy, if I were you, I would find a place to hide for when she gets back from her honeymoon."

'So you don't think there is a chance of him doing it?"

"I don't know, Ed, she tends to be a lot more possessive than you would think and if she has told him no, then I am thinking she won't change her mind, especially if it involves him having sex with other people. She's not one to share."

"Too bad" Marcus muttered, still watching Jasper giving a show like he was performing for a sold out venue and not for less than a 100 people in his own backyard. Ed gave me a raised eyebrow and all I could do was shrug and smile, "He sees the guy in a dress one damn time and it ruins him, what can I say?"

"Well, Well, Well! Marcus! Are you considering a walk on the wild side? I gotta say, that's pretty damn kinky. What are you, 6'7, 6'8 and around 320 and Jasper is maybe 5'7 on a good day in his boots and 140? Now THAT, that? People would pay big money to see."

"Ed, if you don't quit talking I am going to smack you. You are not setting up some perv porn between my husband and Jasper. That would just be…"

"Hot. It's okay Rose, you can admit it. It would be hot and you know it."

"Ed. I'm just going to give you a heads up, when we were teenagers, Bella once chased me around the front pasture with a ball bat for over a half hour because she caught me talking to her boyfriend at the time, and she didn't love that boy half as much as she loves that little weirdo up there. Look at her face. You see that? She doesn't have eyes for anyone else but him. Probably hasn't had for a long time. She deserves to be happy after all she has been through with losing her first husband the way she did and then with all that she has gone through with this boy? Give her some peace and quiet and let her have her happiness with him. You are one of her best friends; can't you see she needs that?"  
><strong>Epov<strong>

Oh hell. When she puts it that way, I can't help but to feel bad. The sales of views of the picture have banked quite a tidy amount for the kids, so it's not like they will be starving or on the streets tomorrow if he doesn't do the porn. The way he is sounding with the band, he could go back into the studio and record a gold record tomorrow, so I don't think money is going to be a problem for them.

"Ill pull it down as soon as I get home, but I need some help from you."

"Doing what?"

"I need you to find a way to filter the money that the picture has already made for him, into their finances, without her getting upset."

"That cant be too much of a problem, after all, how much are we talking?"

"Its more than you think, he was an extremely popular search target for some reason."

"Well, how much was it?"

"Seven hundred and fifty."

"Oh that's not too bad. I could just put that into the grocery budget or something."

"Rose, you misunderstand, that's THOUSAND."

Oh, that even got Marcus to quit eye-fucking Jasper for a minute and look at me.

"Say what? Did you say Seven hundred and fifty THOUSAND dollars?"

"Yes, as of last week when I last checked."

"I think I need a drink."

"Holy hell Rose, I know I need one. We need to have a serious talk with your sister and convince her to see the error of her ways."

"No, no we don't. She won't want to sell him or share him anymore than she will have to once he gets back into doing stuff with his band. Go ahead and take it down Ed. Let's tell her how much you made off of it, be honest about it instead of hiding it. I am thinking we will have to get an accountant involved to keep them from getting taxed into the dark ages, anyway, so she will find out one way or the other."

"Okay, but if they ever change their minds, he could be a very rich man in very short order, so to speak."

"What about me?"

"What about you, big boy?"

"Do you think I could make money like that?"

"Well, we could find out."

"Is that okay with you Rose?"

"Hey, as long as I get to watch and get to help spend the money, im good with it."

"That's my woman."

**Bpov**

Okay, I think we may extend the honeymoon out a few days. Good Lord, this takes me back to the first time I ever saw him, and this is all for me. Life is truly good. I have the man of my dreams, 4 beautiful children, my friends around me, my eldest son is well on his way to a successful life and I am happy and fulfilled for the first time in years. We are back where we started, only are lives have changed for the better, at least I like to think so. I know it's going to be tough having him back out in the world and sharing him with all the other fans, but its where he needs to be, not only so he can feel like he's contributing to the support of the family, but because he needs to be seen and heard. Not sharing him and his talent is like keeping a fine piece of art in a closet. He's not going to do porn, though. I draw the line at allowing my man to have sex with anyone else. Ed will take that site down and no more will be said about it. I will even forgive him, after all, that's Ed and if Jasper didn't kill him for it, then I won't either. I'm going to enjoy my honeymoon, my young, talented man and my life, after all, what else is there?

**A/N**

**Well folks, I think that is all there is. Im sure you will let me know if you disagree. **


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N Hello folks, Due to popular demand by not a few cajoling emails, vaguely threating tweets, and lots of reviews that just seemed seriously annoyed that I had left it the way I did, I have started a sequel. It's called **_**"Still Nothing Wrong With That"**_** and the link is on my profile. **

**As for that disclaimer everybody seems to think covers their asses from getting sued, well, here goes: My characters are amalgamations of people I have met, known, and even been related to. I steal bits and pieces of personality from people who are dead, live and kicking, and of questionable status. I don't intend to write anyone who resembles any one person, especially of the male persuasion,(hell, I haven't been well acquainted with a man in over 4 years now so that would be…) but thus I digress, getting back to business, this is stuff that comes from my own mind. I get ideas from things I hear, see and experience and even a look between two people can give me ideas. If you were to sue me, you could have my dog, Spencer, he has allergies and he eats like food is free, or you could have my student loan debt, I promise you, it's sizeable. I don't have anything else. **

**Thanks for reading, hope to see you at the sequel, let me know what you think.**

**Dedication remains the same. **


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